A MAN who drowned in a Worcester canal had been drinking before his death but how he came to be in the water must remain a mystery said a coroner.

Andrew Rastall who lived in a houseboat at Diglis Marina was found dead in the canal at Blockhouse Close, Diglis, Worcester.

The inquest into his death of the unemployed factory worker was held at Worcestershire Coroner's Court in Stourport today (Thursday).

The divorced 50-year-old who had worked for Carmichael and PSP manufacturing fire fighting equipment lived in the houseboat since 2009.

He was seen by a neighbour, Janine Smith, at around 4.20pm on Sunday, December 14 last year walking away from his boat towards the canal towpath, the last time he was known to have been seen alive.

Worcestershire coroner Geraint Williams said: "The two acknowledged each other as they passed. There was no further sighting of Mr Rastall after that time."

The following day a man opened a window and saw a rucksack floating in the canal and a hat floating nearby, about half a mile from Mr Rastall's house boat.

On December 17 a man travelling from Diglis to Birmingham came through Blockhouse lock and also saw a rucksack in the water.

Mr Williams said: "He realised there was a body underneath the rucksack and he telephoned for the emergency services and police and paramedics arrived and they recovered Mr Rastall from the water."

His death was confirmed at 10.50am that morning. Police then conducted a search of his houseboat but nothing significant was found and no usable CCTV cameras were found on the route.

Mr Williams said while it was unclear exactly when Mr Rastall entered the canal it would have been some time after 4pm on December 14 and 10am on Monday, December 15 when his rucksack and hat were seen in the canal.

A postmortem revealed the cause of death as drowning contributed to by alcoholic intoxication and alcoholic liver disease.

Toxicology tests showed he had a blood alcohol reading of 356mg in 100ml of blood (for guidance the coroner said the drink drive limit is 80mg).

Mr Williams said: "He would have been significantly under the influence of alcohol when he died. Somehow he ended up in the canal heavily intoxicated with alcohol and he drowned.

"There is no evidence as to how he came to be in the canal.

"I cannot rule out that he slipped or fell in or deliberately went into the canal or was in some way pushed into the water. There is no evidence for any or all of these things."

Mr Williams recorded an open conclusion.