POPULAR Saul boatman David Gardner – known to his many friends as Scraggy – drowned in the icy waters of the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal after a drinking session at his local, an inquest heard today.

The talented 61-year-old singer and guitarist had left the The Bell at closing time and walked back home to his canal boat Tess with his dog, the inquest at Gloucestershire Coroner's Court was told.

One of his friends Sarah Kerr told the inquest in a written statement: "I had been drinking with him for a couple of hours and he was still there when I left the pub.

"He was a big drinker and had had a fair amount to drink but he was in good spirits,

"We all loved him and I feel gutted by his death.

"I felt that I should have walked him home."

PC Richard Stewart, who was called to the scene at 2.36am on December 20 last year, also in a written statement, told the Barnwood inquest: "When I arrived at the scene I saw three people, fellow boatmen, and Mr Gardner's dog, standing on the towpath.

"A television aerial on the boat had been snapped off and a torch was lying on the ground still shining.

"The boat door was open but nobody was inside and outside the conditions were precarious with the boat slippery and the water choppy.

"It appeared that Mr Gardner had fallen into the canal and I called other emergency services to help look for him."

At 5.46am the body of Mr Gardner was found some ten feet away in the middle of the canal.

The inquest heard that the weather conditions were extremely cold and the water was icy.

A post mortem revealed that Mr Gardner had no injuries and concluded that death was due to drowning.

Senior Coroner for Gloucestershire Katy Skerrett said: "A toxicology report established that Mr Gardner had 279 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the legal drink-drive level being 80 milligrams.

"This is consistent with heavy drunkenness and could have led to a loss of co-ordination and balance."

Ms Skerrett concluded that it was an alcohol-related death.