ACCIDENTAL death verdicts have been recorded on two young men who drowned at a beauty spot in the Malvern Hills.

Seventeen-year-old Russell O’Neill, from Ronkswood, Worcester and Justas Juzenas, 22 and from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, died within a week of each other at Gullet Quarry at the beginning of July.

During an inquest into their deaths this afternoon, assistant Herefordshire coroner Roland Wooderson said the tragedies were “very sad", adding it was clear the cold water was a contributory factor in their deaths.

The two deaths saw the number of fatalities at the beauty spot rise to five in less than 20 years.