AN inquest has recorded a verdict of accidental death after a Tidworth soldier fell while rock climbing on the Dorset Coast.

Dorchester Coroner’s Court heard that Staff Sergeant Christopher Martin, who served with 6 Battalion the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was climbing near Langton Matravers, Swanage with his girlfriend while on leave on August 23 last year.

He fell about 40ft and was airlifted to hospital, but died later from his injuries.

Colleagues described the 32-year-old, from Cheshire, as “an exemplary instructor” and “an extraordinary man”.