A PRESTON woman plunged 70 feet to her death from a cliff top in North Yorkshire on Saturday.

Christine McCann, 49, was out walking at Thornton Force near Ingleton Falls with a group from Christ Church, Fulwood, when she is believed to have slipped and fallen from a ledge.

Passers-by struggled to rescue her from the water below, but despite attempts to revive her, Mrs McCann died at the scene.

Her distraught husband, John, is at the family's home in Victoria Road, Fulwood, and is being comforted by his children Lynne, 20, and Richard, 23. He wept: "She is going to be missed. Lots of people have been round - there's someone knocking at the door every two minutes."

Mrs McCann was a well-loved member of the Christ Church congregation and the Fulwood Methodist Church, where she was a guide leader.

She had been a nurse and worked at the Royal Preston Hospital.

Mr McCann was told of his wife's death by police while watching the PNE match against Peterborough.

Christine died, he said, at the place they had visited together two years ago and to which she had always wanted to return.

"I can't believe this has happened now," he added.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "She left the recognised path and went to the edge of the cliff where she slipped and fell 70 or 80 feet into the water below."

Rev Eddie Burns said: "She had a great faith and was a very outgoing person, always encouraging other people. She will be sadly missed."

Dr Pauline Fielding at Royal Preston Hospital said: "It is just a tragic accident and everyone here is devastated by it.

An inquest was opened into her death on Monday in Skipton coroner's court.

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