AN inquest into the death a 17-year-old Gloucester man who drowned last summer while swimming in a quarry on the Malvern Hills has still not been held.

Yunus Ismail Moola died at the Gullet Quarry, Castlemorton, on Tuesday, July 3, while on a visit with fellow students from the city's Central Technology College. An inquest was opened for identification purposes two days after the tragedy and immediately adjourned.

A spokesman for the coroner's office said they were still awaiting police files on the case and the inquest was unlikely to continue until after Christmas.

Earlier this autumn, Malvern Hills Conservators used explosives to destroy a limestone ledge on the western face of the quarry which was much used by people diving in.

"We got an expert from the Mendip Hills in to do the job. It must have brought down about half-a-ton of rock," said the Conservators' director Ian Rowat.

He said he has been in discussion with the Malvern-based Maldives Sub Aqua Club about the possibility of members mapping the quarry's underwater hazards, but no action has yet been taken.

More signs warning of the quarry's danger have been erected and Mr Rowat has back-up signs ready and waiting in case of vandalism.

The water in the quarry is deep and cold and there is thought to be a large quantity of wreckage, including abandoned vehicles, under the surface.

Another swimmer, also from Gloucester, drowned in the quarry in 1995.