A 'LOVEABLE rogue' who had lived around Ambleside for 20 years died when he fell into the Rothay River while he was drunk, an inquest heard.

Derek Flynn, who was unemployed and of no fixed abode at the time, died aged 55. Originally from Liverpool, he was living in a tent near the Rydal Road car park.

The hearing in Kendal was told he was found by a dog walker on November 24 last year. His body was lying face down in the water around midday.

Pathologist reports said the level of alcohol in Mr Flynn's blood was high, to the point where a regular drinker would still be drunk and disorientated.

Giving evidence Sgt Bill Nolan, of Cumbria Police, said: "I have known Derek for nearly four years due to patrolling Ambleside from time to time.

"The best words used to describe him at the memorial service were a 'loveable rogue.' He was a jovial sort of person.

"He slept rough in the doorway of the medical centre or in a tent, and stayed at friends' houses for short periods of time and at the parish centre."

Sgt Nolan told the coroner that Mr Flynn had been drinking with two other homeless people by the car park on Rydal Road on the night before he died.

The man he had been drinking with, Carl Dunn, told police that Mr Flynn had drunk a bottle of Frosty Jack's cider, and that he left him when he was asleep on the river bank.

It is not believed that Mr Flynn fell in from the bank, as it is six to eight feet above the water, and his body showed no signs of injury from a fall.

Sgt Nolan said it was possible that Mr Flynn has been on a gravel patch underneath the bridge, where homeless people were often seen gathering to shelter, when he fell in. But there was no evidence to prove what happened.

Personal items, including a birth certificate, were recovered from the body, and the cider bottle was found within a cordoned off area. Mr Flynn's glasses and rucksack were never recovered, despite a fire and rescue search of a 400 metre stretch of the river.

Mr Flynn's mother, Ivy Gee, told the inquest: "He didn't need to be homeless. He could have come and lived back at home.

"He had lots of jobs in the area when he first moved there in hotels and as a gardener. They all gave him good reports."

She also told the court that Mr Flynn was divorced and had three children.

Assistant district coroner Robert Chapman concluded that Mr Flynn had died as a result of immersion in water and that this had happened because of alcohol intoxication.