A man drowned after falling into the Oxford canal following a night out drinking with friends, an inquest heard.

The body of Colin Bennett, 61, was found in the canal, near Kidlington, close to where he lived alone on a barge, on the morning of August 24.

An inquest in Oxford heard that Mr Bennett had been to the Black Horse pub in Kidlington the night before with other boat owners to celebrate the birthday of Wendy Scanlon, who also lived on a barge.

A statement was read out from Ms Scanlon that said her and Mr Bennett had left the pub at about 10.30pm and walked back to the canal.

When she woke next morning, she found someone had locked the outside hatch of her barge, which she thought might have been Mr Bennett.

The next day John Worth was navigating his boat when he spotted what looked like a body in the water.

Police were called, and the body was recovered from the canal by divers.

It was identified as being Mr Bennett by his friend Mark Green, who lived on a neighbouring barge.

The inquest heard a statement from Mr Green, who said Mr Bennett liked his drink, and had been pulled out of the canal after drinking before.

A post mortem revealed he had drunk the equivalent of six pints of beer.

Consultant pathologist Ian Roberts said there was no evidence of heart failure, concluding the cause of death was drowning due to intoxication.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death.