AN elderly man died after losing his footing on his way home from drinking with some friends, an inquest has heard.

Terry Kenyon, of Cross Hill, Padiham, was 70 when he was found unresponsive with head injuries at the bottom of a set of steps by some members of the public.

Mr Kenyon had been out shopping with his wife June Kenyon in Burnley on January 10, 2022.

He got the bus home after deciding to go for drinks with some friends that afternoon.

When June got back home, Mr Kenyon was not there but she said this was not out of character and she thought he was just out with his friends.

At 6.45pm, police knocked on her door to tell her that Mr Kenyon had died.

Earlier that afternoon after he had been out drinking, members of the public found Mr Kenyon at the bottom of a set of concrete steps in Padiham in cardiac arrest and could smell alcohol on him.

An ambulance was called however paramedics were unable to find a heartbeat and he was not breathing.

He had suffered a significant head injury, a laceration to the back of his head and had a traumatic cervical spine injury which may have impacted the spinal cord. Doctors believe this may have been his cause of death.

He was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital and declared dead.

June said her husband had fallen once in the past while under the influence of alcohol but that he was not an alcoholic, and only went out rarely to socialise with his friends.

Coroner Laura Fox declared that Mr Kenyon’s death was an accident.

She said: “Mr Kenyon was a 70-year-old man who enjoyed socialising and drinking with his friends in working men’s clubs and pubs around Padiham.

“He died on January 10, 2022 after consuming a large amount of alcohol causing him to misplace his footing.”