A "CARING and considerate" young man who fell to his death off a notorious suicide spot had taken the class-A drug Ecstasy that night, an inquest heard yesterday.

Jason Tate, 20, died from multiple injuries after he fell from the Hownsgill Viaduct, at Hamsterley Mill, near Consett, in the early hours of Monday, July 30.

An inquest at Durham magistrates court heard that a post mortem examination showed that he had drunk one-and-a-half times the legal drink- drive limit and taken at least one Ecstasy pill before he died.

Three days later members of the Wear and Tees Search and Rescue Team found his body under the viaduct, known locally as the Gill Bridge.

Consultant pathologist Paul Barrett told the inquest that Mr Tate's drink and drugs intake that night could have led to considerable confusion in the young man.

Detective Inspector Simon Orton, the officer in charge of the missing persons inquiry, said Mr Tate was a "considerate, home-loving boy who had high regard for his parents".

He said that one or two of Mr Tate's friends admitted reluctantly that he took an Ecstasy pill from time to time.

Det Insp Orton also said that a 5ft steel fence on top of the bridge meant it was almost impossible for someone to fall off the bridge by mistake.

Recording an open verdict, North Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle said he was not convinced that he intended to commit suicide, and that drink and drugs may have played a part in his death.