AN inquest into the death of a climber killed in a Scottish avalanche is being held against his family’s wishes – because Scotland is considered a foreign country.

Ribble Valley PhD student Christopher Bell was one of four people who died in January in a snow slip on 3,773ft Bidean nam Bian, in Glencoe.

Police investigated the incident, but a separate inquest will be held by the coroner’s office in Blackburn as the 24-year-old, who was studying ocean mapping at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, in Oban, died ‘abroad’.

Simon Bell, Christopher’s father, has criticised the decision and called the new probe an ‘unnecessary intrusion’.

He said: “We do not see the need for it.

“Initially, they said if it was going to go ahead, it would be three or four months. As far as I am concerned, everything has been done that needed to be done, and I am quite happy with what the police have done up in Scotland.”

Mr Bell, of Higher Commons Lane, Balderstone, has written to the coroner to voice his concerns, but does not know if his plea will have any bearing on whether, or not, the inquest goes ahead.

He said: “I don’t know yet if it can be overturned.

“I have a reply from them that apologises to us, but says something about the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 that says it has to be done when a body is brought into England and Wales from abroad, and Scotland is considered ‘abroad’ in this case, which is ridiculous. It was a tragic accident and we are still grieving. This is just a waste of money.”

Inquests in England and Wales are held in the event of sudden or unex-plained deaths, but there are no coroners in Scotland. Mr Bell and junior doctor Una Finnegan, 25, from Co Antrim, PhD student Tom Chesters, 28, who lived in Leeds and studied in Hull, and Dr Rachel Majumdar, 29, who worked at Harrogate District Hospital, in Yorkshire, were swept 1,000ft to their deaths as they descended from Bidean nam Bian, on January 19.

Mr Bell, described as an ‘unassuming gentleman’ by friends, was one of Scotland’s foremost amateur mountain bikers, competing at top level in the nation’s toughest off-road challenges for the Highlands-based Nevis Cycles team.

A spokeswoman for the coroner refused to comment on individual cases.