THE reason why popular window cleaner David Bowman plunged to his death from his ladders will remain a mystery, an inquest heard.

The ex-army physical training instructor died of head injuries sustained in the fall and there was nothing to suggest a brain haemorrhage before he plummeted to his death.

A keep-fit fanatic and tireless worker for charity, Mr Bowman, 51, had been cleaning windows for 30 years and his wife, Marie, described him as extremely careful and safety conscious. She said he bought a new ladder every 12 months purely for safety reasons and never took risks.

She recalled an incident when he had fallen after standing on a veranda but he had called on his military and combat training and rolled with the fall, coming away with only slight bruising. Mrs Bowman, of Coleridge Street, Blackburn, said her husband was an extremely fit man who had not visited the doctor in the last 10 years. He had a distinguished career with the Royal Artillery and had left as a fully qualified physical training instructor. He was also a one-to-one combat instructor, a swimming instructor and qualified nutritionist.

He had not drunk alcohol for eight years and had continued weight training. "He was 100 per cent fit," said Mrs Bowman.

On the day of the fall Mr Bowman, who had struck up a pen-friend relationship with gangster Reggie Kray, had been cleaning windows in Monmouth Road after collecting his ladders and equipment from a lock-up garage in Fecitt Brow. Joan Duckworth, who lives in Monmouth Road, was talking past her house on her way to Accrington Road Community Centre when she noticed some ladders lying over the side fence.

"My husband had some ladders like that and I just wondered why they were there," said Mrs Duckworth. She heard Mr Bowman choking and found him lying face down on the flags.

The canopy over the front door had been pulled away from the wall and there were marks on the windowsill suggesting Mr Bowman might have tried to cling on.

The post-mortem examination revealed a single brain haemorrhage which occurred as a result of the head injuries sustained in the fall.

There was nothing to suggest a haemorrhage which could have caused Mr Bowman to fall.

Mrs Bowman said her husband would never have gone up the ladder if he had not felt well.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Michael Singleton said he would never know what had caused Mr Bowman to fall.

"He could have over-reached, the ladders could have slipped or he may have been distracted, we will never know," said Mr Singleton. "What is clear is that this was a tragic accident.

"There are certain inherent risks to being a window cleaner and while you can take steps to minimise these risks they are still there.

"I do not think we will ever know precisely what lead to Mr Bowman falling from his ladder but whatever it was the outcome was tragic."