A PENSIONER died after a car hit him and his wife as they enjoyed a walk on the beach while on holiday in Cyprus.

Arthur Drinkel, 73, suffered a broken neck, damaged spinal cord, a fractured leg, jaw and ribs.

He was treated in hospitals at Limasol and Nicosia after the accident, on April 25, 2004, and was flown to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, a week later.

Mr Drinkel, a retired instrument technician, died there on May 23, 2004, after he contracted septicemia.

His wife, Joan, suffered two broken legs and spent six months in a wheelchair.

An inquest heard that the Drinkels, of Raisbeck Close, Marske, east Cleveland, were walking in Limasol when the car came off the road and onto the beach. The driver was found guilty by a Cypriot court of negligent driving.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.