AN assistant manager at a wine merchants was found dead in a swimming pool after a night of heavy drinking with colleagues, an inquest has been told.

Benjamin Guiver was having dinner with four other employees of Majestic Wine at a New Forest house on August 26 this year as a farewell for a member of staff leaving the company.

The inquest heard the group had drunk about two or three bottles of wine each during the evening and four of them had gone to bed, leaving the 29-year-old downstairs on his own.

The next morning he was found floating in the swimming pool at the home in Mill Lane, Burley, by a friend who dragged him out of the water before calling an ambulance.

Det Sgt Julia Fabrizi told the inquest that the party had been a pleasant evening and there was no suggestion of anything suspicious.

She said: "The following morning one of the group got up and came downstairs and went to the pool and saw Mr Guiver floating in the pool and called for help.

He pulled him out and called an ambulance but by that stage they knew he was dead.

"Neighbours did not hear anything so there was no indication that he had got into trouble and was calling for help.

"He had just come back from travelling and was in very good spirits and looking forward to getting back to work in this country."

The popular worker had worked in a number of branches in the south - including Southampton, Salisbury, Poole and Dorchester - after returning from travelling to New Zealand.

Dr Bruce Addis, a consultant pathologist who conducted the post-mortem, said a blood test revealed he had 269 milligrams of alcohol, which is 2.5 times over the legal driving limit of 80 milligrams.

He said: "It implies that he had drunk quite a lot of alcohol, enough to cause some symptoms of drunkenness and impaired co-ordination."

Southampton coroner Keith Wiseman said the only unknown factor was whether Mr Guiver, who lived in Salisbury, went for a swim or whether he fell in.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, he said: "This was a very tragic end to a very normal and I'm sure enjoyable evening in the heart of the summer.

"It highlights the dangers of being in water when one has had a very significant intake of alcohol. This was a tragic accident."

A spokesman for Majestic Wines said: "Our thoughts are with Ben's family at this time. He was a well-liked and popular employee."