A CORONER has paid tribute to the community-spirited actions of a Worcester man who died in a tragic accident while picking up litter.

Delmund Penney, aged 56, was trying to pick up a piece of rubbish on a mid-Wales river bank when he slipped into the water, hit his head and drowned.

At a resumed inquest on Friday, May 11, into Mr Penney's death, Powys coroner Geraint Williams recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: "It was a tragedy that a man should have an accident when seeking to do some good in the community.

"Many people would simply have ignored the rubbish on the side of the river bank but he chose not to. The tragic accident cost him his life."

The accident happened on Sunday, March 11, while Mr Penney and his wife Stephanie, of Southall Avenue, Northwick, were walking along the river Iean near Dolfach. They had been staying nearby at a holiday home.

The inquest heard a statement from Mrs Penney in which she described how her husband had spotted a plastic bag on the river bank and went to pick it up because he thought it looked unsightly.

Mr Williams said: "He went down the embankment where he slipped and fell into the river. He cut his head quite severely and drowned."

Mrs Penney ran to a phone box to raise the alarm but, although police officers arrived quickly, it was several hours later before Mr Penney's body was found further downstream.

Tests showed he had 115 microgrammes of alcohol, but Mr Williams said it was not enough to make a regular drinker have problems with balance or walking.

Mr Penney, who was originally from Droitwich, was a sales director at Amcor Flexibles, Ledbury.

His widow described him as a marvellous man who loved reading, walking and poetry. He also kept bees.

He leaves three children Rachael, aged 29, Duncan, 26 and Sebastian, 23.