Mr Farr had taken his three-year-old daughter to the store

Former supervisor Paula Harvey said she had not been able to open the barrier fully the day before Kenneth Farr died.

Mr Farr, 37, from Penarth, died from head injuries suffered at the Asda supermarket in Cardiff Bay in May 2002.

It was said the gate was not secured by a padlock. The hearing continues.

Mr Farr had taken his daughter with him to buy a shed when the father-of-three was hit in the head by the barrier. He died in hospital later the same day.

Ms Harvey, 37, who had formerly worked as an out-of-hours supervisor at Asda, told Cardiff coroner's court that during her nightshift on Monday 13 May, around 0330 BST, she tried to open the gate fully ahead of the store's opening.

But she said it stuck a short distance from the fixed post it should have rested against.

I always seemed to have trouble with it (the barrier) Paula Harvey

She said: "I even turned around and pushed my bum against it to give it more force but it wouldn't move.

"There was nothing else I could do so I left it against the open post which I had done before."

Asked by coroner Mary Hassell if she had logged the problem in the store's complaints book, she replied: "I never knew we had one. No-one ever told us about anything like that."

On Tuesday, the inquest had heard security staff were unaware of their duty to check the barrier every day, although a risk assessment signed the day after Mr Farr's death stated they did so.

Ms Hassell also asked if anyone had explained to her the need for locking the barrier into place when it was open or closed.

"No, not really," Ms Harvey answered.

Mr Farr was hit in the head by the barrier

She added no-one had ever shown her how to open the gate or had given her instruction on its operation.

"I just took it for granted that I had to do it," she said. "I had to work it out for myself."

She added: "I always seemed to have trouble with it (the barrier).

"I had trouble pushing it (the barrier's telescopic arm) right in - it was heavy. When the boys were there I used to ask them to do it."

When Mr Farr's widow, Helen, asked Ms Harvey why she didn't ask anybody from the bakery or the warehouse to open the gate fully, she said: "I don't know."

On Wednesday, Mrs Farr had questioned an Asda employee over why a broken padlock on the gate had not been replaced.

Richard Constable, night-time supervisor at the supermarket, told the inquest the padlock used to secure the gate would not close as he shut the barrier behind him the night before Mr Farr's death.