THE best friend of a fisherman who died in a freak storm has spoken about his last moments.

Alan Chapman told the inquest into the death of Keith Evans, 58, that he was convinced he was also about to die in the storm.

The Hartlepool inquest heard that it was just chance that the lifeboat crew happened to see the friends while on their way to another job.

Hartlepool coroner Malcolm Donnelly commended all the lifeboat crew involved, in particular Carl Betts, who dived into the sea in an unsuccessful attempt to save Mr Evans.

Mr Chapman, who had known Mr Evans since the pair were children, told the inquest at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court that they were near Crimdon, north of Hartlepool, a quarter of a mile from shore on a calm, sunny day in their Northern Star boat when "all hell broke loose".

He said: "We didn't even have a chance to get our life jackets on.

"We squeezed together and put our deck lights on because we couldn't see a thing. The boat ended up turning round and round like it was in a whirlpool.

"Then the nose went down under the water.

"We said good luck to each other and broke apart. I swam towards a piece of wood.

"The next thing I remember seeing was the lights on the lifeboat, which I thought was a helicopter.

"I had thought I was finished, gone."

The inquest heard that both Hartlepool lifeboats were out answering Mayday calls when one of them saw the men floating in the water.

The boat had already gone under and has never been recovered.

Lifeboatman Mr Betts said: "Mr Evans was lying flat on the water. I dived in after him and eventually, three of us pulled him on board. We worked on him all the way to shore but it was too late."

Mr Chapman, of Hartlepool, was treated in hospital for hypothermia and pneumonia after the incident.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.