A homeless alcoholic man passed away in full view of CCTV, an inquest heard.

Footage of Eric Hughes dying alone on a street in Ashford was shown to a jury.

The hearing was told a bar owner had phoned operators that night to warn them: "I think he’s going to be dead in the morning by the way he’s shaking."

But the victim, a well-known local character, was regularly seen drunk and sleeping rough and a CCTV operator told the hearing he did not appear to be in a worse condition than usual.

Mr Hughes, locally nicknamed Eric the Viking, was found dead by a bench outside public toilets at New Rents, Ashford, on the morning of November 9, 2007.

Andrew Hamilton, owner of the nearby Undecided bar, had voiced his concerns to CCTV monitors the previous night and made Mr Hughes a cup of tea to warm him up.

Coroner Rachel Redman told him: "I would like to thank you. Your act of kindness was the last interaction he had before he died."

The inquest at Dover heard that Mr Hughes, 52, had died of hypothermia due to alcohol intoxication.

Mr Hughes had been viewed overnight sitting on the bench and then lying on the floor.

For several hours he could be seen moving his legs as he appeared to be sleeping but he was last seen to move at 5.50am on November 9.

He was discovered dead at 7.30 that morning.

Gareth Recht , a CCTV operator based at Ashford Civic Centre, told the hearing: "We had seen him in that condition too many times to mention."

The hearing continues.