A CAMPER died when the portable barbecue he was using filled his hut with carbon monoxide fumes during a weekend break in the Lake District, an inquest heard.

Staff found the body of 45- year-old Chris Bainbridge in a camping pod at a camp site near Penrith on Monday, March 13 – three days after he arrived with his wife, Jane.

Mrs Bainbridge, 42, was discovered semi-conscious on the floor of the wooden hut at The Quiet Site holiday park, in Watermillock.

The couple, from the Whinfield Road area of Darlington, had arrived on the Friday afternoon and were planning to stay two nights.

Mrs Bainbridge, a housing association worker, told the inquest into her husband’s death at County Hall, Kendal, yesterday, that she could remember the couple had been excited about the camping weekend, but she could recall few details about the night they arrived.

After visiting nearby Pooley Bridge, the couple returned to the site to have a barbecue.

Mrs Bainbridge said: “I wanted to be back by 4pm because I didn’t want to rush and get poorly from badlycooked food.”

Despite having had little alcohol to drink, Mrs Bainbridge, who became visibly upset during the inquest, said she remembered feeling disorientated and stumbling into a caravan after going to use the phone or toilet.

She said: “It was almost as if I had been on a massive bender.

“I don’t remember anything else until Monday.

“I heard people knocking on the door.

“I thought we were in trouble for the music, which it turned out was Chris’ phone.”

Camp site owner Daniel Holder said he went to check on the couple on Monday afternoon after receiving phone calls from concerned colleagues and members of the family.

He told the hearing that the door of the hut was shut and a bucket barbecue was just inside the pod.

Several sausages were on the barbecue and it was obvious it had been lit, he said.

Mrs Bainbridge said she could not remember the barbecue being used on the Friday night, but told the inquest she had found photographs on a camera from that evening that showed her and her husband, and the lit barbecue.

“I know the risks but I can’t remember what happened – we both knew the risks,” she added.

PC Diane Owen, who investigated the incident, said she concluded there were no suspicious circumstances.

A pathologist found that Mr Bainbridge had died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, South Cumbria coroner Ian Smith said it was clear the death had been a terrible, tragic and horrid accident.

He added: “Anyone who gets to hear about this inquest should go away with the message that something of this sort, a disposable barbecue in an enclosed area – and this applies to tents as well as solid structures – is not just dangerous, but potentially fatal.”

Mr Bainbridge had worked for Darlington Borough Council for 27 years. Speaking after the hearing, his sister, Sharon Bainbridge, said: “This has been a tragic accident and it has taken a wonderful, wonderful guy from us.

“We would like to urge everyone about the dangers of barbecues – these are sensible, sensible people.”