A PENSIONER drove 100 miles to his boyhood home to drown himself in the river where he had played as a child, an inquest heard yesterday.

Former miner Robert Whitehead drove from his home in Conisborough, South Yorkshire, to County Durham and walked to his death in the River Wear.

An inquest held in Chester-le-Street yesterday heard that the 86-year-old was seen standing on the snow-covered banks of the river at Hunwick, near Crook, at about midday on January 16.

River bailiff John Fleming, of nearby Sunny Brow, noticed Mr Whitehead's car parked on farmland and began talking to him.

A tearful Mr Fleming told the inquest that Mr Whitehead made it clear that he intended to walk into the fast-flowing river and would not return.

The bailiff had tried to persuade the pensioner not to take his life and warned him how cold the river, which was swollen with melting snow, would be.

Mr Fleming told the inquest: "He said he knew how cold it got because he used to swim in there when he was a boy.

"I told him not to be so silly, but he just looked straight through me at the river - he was determined."

Mr Fleming ran to get help from a nearby farmhouse but, when no one was home, he returned to the river but could find no sign of Mr Whitehead.

Police and a search and rescue helicopter were alerted and searched the area downstream for an hour before they found the body.

Despite having some signs of heart and lung diseases, Mr Whitehead appeared to be in reasonable health. No evidence was presented to explain his state of mind.

Durham's deputy coroner, Brenda Davison, recorded that Mr Whitehead had taken his own life.

She said: "We have heard from Mr Fleming that he was quite determined in what he did."