ACCIDENT verdicts were recorded yesterday on two men who died in separate incidents after consuming vast amounts of alcohol.

Engineer Andrew Bailey, 45, died on February 16 at his home on Bankhead Road, Northallerton.

Yesterday's inquest, at County Hall, Northallerton, heard that the former Northallerton rugby captain had battled drink problems for a number of years and went on binges lasting for up to a week.

Pathologist Dr Philip Lumb said that a combination of acute alcohol poisoning and blood loss from a serious scalp laceration, probably suffered during a fall, was the cause of Mr Bailey's death.

He said that the level of alcohol in his blood - 392mg in 100ml of blood - was one of the highest he had ever seen. The legal drink drive limit is 80mg per 100ml of blood.

In a statement read out at the inquest, Mr Bailey's father, Danny, said: "We tried to get Andrew help but couldn't as no one seemed to want to help him."

In a separate inquest, the coroner heard that supply teacher Derek Goodwin was found dead by his wife, Diane, at their home in Newby, near Stokesley, on April 30.

Her statement said that Mr Goodwin had been an alcoholic for the past five years and had suffered from bouts of depression.

The 62-year-old had been drinking heavily the night before he died and, in the morning, his wife found his body on the floor beside his bed.

A post-mortem examination revealed that he was suffering from heart disease and that he had 471mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood.

Eastern area coroner Michael Oakley recorded verdicts of accidental death on both men.