THE sudden death of a 25-year-old Blackburn plumber in Ibiza was a ‘tragic accident’, according to a Blackburn coroner.

Michael Singleton, the chief coroner for Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, was speaking during the inquest into the death of Christopher Briggs while he was on holiday in August with seven friends.

He was found dead in his hostel bathroom by his best friend, Paul Burke, hours after returning from a night out in the Baleric island party resort of San Antonio.

Mr Singleton said: “As a coroner you come across cases where young people go on holiday and tragic consequences ensue and you put some of it down to stupidity but there clearly is none of that here.”

Spanish authorities said that CCTV footage shows the two friends return to their room at the Apollo Hostel at 2.44am.

The former Witton Park High School pupil, who was known as Briggsy to friends, had been due to spend a week on the island staying at the hostel in Francisco de Goya Street.

The group had been planning to see Swedish DJ Avicii the next night.

Mr Singleton, who registered the death as accidental, said: “As a father I can only imagine the pain and suffering the family went through.

“That he was a long way from home and on holiday must have made it even harder.

“This is clearly a tragic death and my heart-felt condolences go out to the family and Mr Burke. I sometimes wonder how people get to live to 80-years-old when it seems so easy to have a fatal accident.”

Mr Burke said: “I woke up and saw his head sticking out of the bathroom doorway on his back.

“I ran outside into the next room to get help.” Following investigations by the Spanish authorities, Mr Briggs’ body was returned to Blackburn on August 14.

His parents, Stephen and Susan, received help from the British Consulate in Ibiza in the aftermath of his death.