DISTRESSED telephone calls were made to loved ones by some of the 21 Chinese cocklers before they perished at Morecambe Bay, an inquest heard.

Guo Bing Long, 28, called his family in China on February 5 on his mobile phone at 2am saying he was trapped. His body was found at 7am by an RAF helicopter.

The inquest, held at Lancaster Magistrates Court on Tuesday, was adjourned to a later date to allow criminal proceedings to be completed.

Coroner Howard McCann heard how Yang Tian Long called one of the survivors on the shore, pleading for help because he and others were drowning.

Post mortems carried out by Home Office pathologists Dr Alison Amour and Dr Paul Johnson found 20 of the victims died from drowning.

The 21st victim, Lin You Xing's badly decomposed body was not found until May 3, but pathologists said that death was consistent with drowning.

His cousins Lin Guo Hua and Lin Guo Guang also died.

All the victims were from Fujian Province except Zhang Xiu Hua, who was from Liaoning. Most leave behind young and teenage children.

The bodies were taken to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, where they have been kept since they were found.

After Tuesday's hearing Mr McCann said he hoped the bodies could now be returned to China.

He praised authorities in Morecambe for the way they handled the incident and added: "I'm happy that this morning's proceedings are finished and we have managed to get the identification inquiries completed."

Det Chf Ins Steve Brunskill, who gave evidence on behalf of police, told how two of the victims were believed to be husband and wife.

Xu Yu Hua, 37, was discovered by the RNLI at 6am near the shore at Bolton-le-Sands but it is thought his wife Liu Qin Ying is one of two bodies never found

Xu Yu Hua's two cousins Lin Guo Guang and Lin You Xing also died on February 5.

Relatives say he called China on February 4 and told them he was going cockling in Morecambe Bay.

Chen Mu Yu's body was the first to be discovered at 3.28am on the sands.

The 31-year-old was identified with the help of a silver watch, which was a wedding present from his wife.

DCI Brunskill said a number of the victims were known to immigration and some to police, having been previously arrested in Edinburgh, Norfolk and Cambridge.