A man died when a kite buggy he was riding plunged into a ravine, an inquest heard.

Darren Drummond, 31, of Southfield Crescent, Norton, Stockton, died of a brain haemorrhage caused by a fractured skull on April 1, during a day out with friends at Carlton Bank, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire.

Coroner Michael Oakley was told that Mr Drummond had been using a buggy owned by his friend, Mark Beattie.

He had been riding it down a steep slope when his friends watched in horror as it failed to stop in a grassy area, and plunged over the edge of a cliff into a ravine.

Mr Beattie said that he and his friends had used the buggy many times without power on downward slopes.

Traffic Constable Tim Alderson, of the Collision Investigation Unit, in Northallerton, said there was nothing in the safety instructions to preclude using the buggy on a downhill slope.

One of Mr Drummond's friends, Gary Robson, ran down to the bottom of the ravine where he found Mr Drummond lying unconscious and face down in a beck.

Mr Beattie called the police, and an RAF Sea King helicopter arrived to airlift Mr Drummond away.

But a few minutes into the flight, Mr Drummond went into cardiac arrest, and was declared dead shortly after arriving at Middlesbrough General Hospital.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.