TWO Lancashire police sergeants died while mountaineering in the Alps after falling 1,300 feet in an avalanche, an inquest heard.

Close friends John Lucas, 40, from Clitheroe, and Chris Baybutt, 46, from Leyland, broke their necks and suffered multiple injuries.

Post mortem examinations found that they would have died before their descent was completed, and would not have suffered.

Their bodies were found on July 11, four days after they set off up a 12,800ft mountain called Wellenkuppe, above the popular resort of Zermatt, in southern Switzerland.

Although it is not known exactly how the vastly experienced mountaineers came to their deaths, Preston coroner Dr James Adeley said it was likely that they had been caught up in an avalanche.

He recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: "There would have been little they could have done to save themselves as the ground slid down."

An inquest at Preston Magistrates Court heard that it was believed the avalanche struck when Sgts Lucas and Baybutt, who spent much of their careers in Blackburn, walked over a corridor of compacted ice and snow at more than 12,000ft.

On July 8 the alarm was raised when they failed to return to the Rotham Hut, their accommodation at 10,000ft. The Swiss mountain rescue team attempted a search on July 9, but had to abandon it due to bad weather.

On July 10, they launched another search, but instead found the body of a German climber, which diverted their attention away from the hunt for Sgts Lucas and Baybutt.

The following day the mountain rescue helicopter was flying back from another rescue when the pilot spotted a rucksack in the snow.

Mountain rescue teams were sent onto the ground and traced the climbing ropes to the officers' bodies. They then dug them out of the snow with their hands.

Sergeant Martin Knight, a close friend of the officers who had joined them on previous mountaineering trips, told the inquest that they were safe, experienced mountaineers who would not take risks.

After the inquest, both families said they would like to thank the police since the tragedy as "without their support we would not have got through this".

Sgt Lucas had served with Lancashire police for 17 years, working in Blackburn either as a tutor for new recruits, or an armed response officer, before being appointed sergeant in Clitheroe in September 2003.

Sgt Baybutt had spent the majority of his 10 years' service in Blackburn as a patrol, or armed response officer.

He had also worked in Darwen from July 1995 to March 1997, and most recently in the Special Branch at the force's Hutton headquarters.