A driver who stopped by the side of a road to relieve himself slipped into a water-filled ditch and drowned, an inquest heard.

Patrick Webster, 33, was driving home with his wife and sister at 3am when he felt an overriding urge to go to the toilet.

He wandered off to find a secluded spot on the A259 in East Guldeford, near Rye, on January 30.

An inquest in Hastings heard that, when he failed to return to the car after more than an hour, the two women dialled 999 and alerted police.

PC Sean Clarke, of Kent Police, found the body of petrol pump attendant Mr Webster face down in the ditch in bitterly cold conditions.

Pathologist Dr Stuart Barnes, of the Conquest Hospital, St Leonards, gave the cause of death as drowning in fresh water, and toxicology tests proved negative for drugs and alcohol.

Mrs Luan Webster, said they had earlier visited a friend who was ill in hospital in Romford, Essex.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, East Sussex coroner Alan Craze described it as an "unusual death" and added: "I am entirely happy that I'm being told the complete truth about the circumstances of Mr Webster's death."