A MAN who died after his car plunged 150 feet off a cliff at Mwnt in June was more than four times the drink-drive limit, an inquest has heard.

Gareth Christopher Chilton, 42, from Manchester, died on Friday, 17 June, when he drove his grey Land Rover Freelander off a cliff while he was staying with colleagues and friends at the Ty Gwyn Caravan Park in Mwnt.

At the inquest into Mr Chilton’s death yesterday (Wednesday), Coroner Peter Brunton heard that Mr Chilton had been drinking heavily since arriving at the campsite earlier in the day, and had decided to drive his car to look for his Yorkshire terrier dog, Maggie.

Mr Brunton heard from witnesses that Mr Chilton had been doing “handbrake turns” and “wheelspins” around the campsite before driving back down the field, through a fence and over the cliff edge to his death.

The inquest was told that pathologist Dr George Powell had found Mr Chilton’s blood alcohol level to be 325mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood — the legal drink drive limit is 80mg per 100ml of blood, with the fatal range starting at around 330mg per 100ml of blood.

It was also revealed that Mr Chilton had been taking anti-depressants, but Mr Brunton said there was no evidence to indicate that Mr Chilton intended to take his own life.

A verdict of misadventure was recorded.