TWO brothers and their cousin drowned after their kayaks were swept over a weir and they could not escape from the swirling water on the other side, a coroner has heard.

Darren Thorpe, 41, his brother Mark, 39, and Gavin Bradley, 36, were enjoying a day's paddling on the River Tyne near Hexham, Northumberland, in May.

Warning signs told people to leave the water upstream of a 200ft-wide weir at Riding Mill, but the three men's bodies were found downstream of the feature, following a major search.

North Tyneside and South Northumberland coroner Eric Armstrong heard the men were not risk-takers and used common sense on previous trips along the river.

But the water level was higher than usual, and one likely scenario was that the men were swept over the weir before they knew it.

Canoe and white-water expert Robert Cunningham told the hearing in North Shields that 30 tonnes of water per second were flowing over the weir at the probable time the men were passing through.

Concrete blocks on the other side of the weir created a back flow which the men could not escape once they came off their sit-on kayaks.

Mr Cunningham said: "It was an absolutely impossible situation to be in in a kayak."

The buoyancy aids the men wore could not save them from the swirling, boiling current, he said.

The three men set off from their homes in South Tyneside on the morning of Sunday, May 11.

Their wives expected them home that evening and Mark's wife, Kerry, raised the alarm that night.

Police began an overnight search which involved two helicopters and the first of the three bodies was found in the river the next morning.

Expert witness Mr Cunningham said: "Unfortunately, they unwittingly ended up in a situation which they did not intend, it was out of their control, and it ended in tragedy."

The coroner said there were a lot of "unknowns", and it may have been that only one of the kayakers got swept away and the others went to help.

Mr Armstrong said: "I'm perfectly satisfied there was no bravado here.

"I'm sure, in their mind, they were out for a day of fun and no more than that."

The three men's widows, supported by other family members, said in a statement: "A part of us died that day, alongside our amazing husbands.

"We will never recover, or be the same again.

"Our lads would never have knowingly put themselves in danger.

"They were decent, hard-working family men, just wanting to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the countryside on a much-deserved day off work.

"They were always sensible and had necessary equipment which included wetsuits, ropes, helmets and life jackets, all of which did nothing to help them on that day.

"We, their wives, were confident in the measures that they took, and in the ability they demonstrated whilst on their kayaks."

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.