THE splutters of a drowning man were heard by four friends enjoying a late-night lakeside drink, an inquest heard.

But it was not until the next day that the body of Alex Ward, 21, was found lying at the bottom of a water skiing lake at the Holborne Cotswold Water Park, where he worked as a chef.

He was last seen at around midnight at a lakeside bar where he had asked after a friend.

The next day, June 19, his body was pulled from the bottom of Lake 14 at the water park.

An open verdict was recorded on his death by the Cotswold coroner, Lester Maddrell.

The inquest heard that after a night spent drinking on June 18 at the Watermark club, a restaurant and bar at the resort, water skiing teacher Will Gibney and three female friends went to his lodge next door where they sat out on the balcony and continued drinking.

Mr Gibney told the Cirencester inquest how all four heard what they thought was spluttering coming from the middle of the lake at around 12.30am. "There were two coughs, then more coughs and a swirling sound on the water like someone swimming," he said.

Mr Ward, who lived in a caravan in the park, was found fully-clothed by underwater police search teams, 35 metres from the shore in water 2.5 metres deep.