A man electrocuted himself on a railway line after a night of drinking, an inquest heard.

Jason Blandford, 29, of Lavant Close, Goring, was found on the track near Angmering station.

An inquest jury at Worthing heard Mr Blandford had been upset and angry after splitting up from his girlfriend, with whom he had a child.

But his father John Blandford, of the same address, said his son had never talked about suicide.

After leaving the Horsham firm where he worked as a fabricator, Mr Blandford went for a drink at a pub near the town's railway station.

He bought a ticket to Barnham from Connex train conductor Suzanne Evans, who told the inquest he had been drunk but pleasant and she had had a joke with him.

She was surprised when he left the train a station early at Ford but said he had been steady on his feet.

Mr Blandford went for a few more drinks in the pub next to Ford station. He was found dead near the Angmering crossing after a train driver reported hitting an object.

It is not known how he got on to the line. A post-mortem showed Mr Blandford was electrocuted and died before the train struck him. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.