THE death of a former Stanford-le-Hope man who died a hero as he attempted to save the life of his daughter while holidaying in Portugal has been recorded as an accident.

In June last year Trevor Pelling, 45, went to the aid of his nine-and 12-year-old children who were struggling against a strong current at Calada beach in Encarnacao but got into difficulty.

The two girls were recovered safely.

It was thought Mr Pelling, who attended Gable Hall between 1987 and 1992, and was a financial consultant who lived and worked in Abu Dhabi, had suffered cardiac arrest. Two post-mortems, one in Portugal and one in the UK after Mr Pelling's body was brought home, could not confirm that conclusively, but it could not be ruled out.

The Essex coroner, at an inquest held in chelmsford, heard Mr Pelling had inhaled a considerable amount of water which led to him getting into difficulties and probably led to cardiac issues. She ruled that the medical cause of death was drowning and it was an accident or accidental death.