A 58-year-old landlord found dead at the bottom of the stairs at his pub died from heart failure and not the fall, an inquest has been told.

But a pathologist said that David Hunt’s collapse at the Eight Bells in St Dunstan’s, Canterbury, could have been contributed to by the very high volume of alcohol he had consumed.

Coroner Rebecca Cobb heard that Mr Hunt had been found lying at the foot of a flight of stairs on February 1 by lodger Paul Allen.

He told the hearing that the previous evening Mr Hunt had been out at a darts match with him and friends but went home early after complaining of feeling unwell.

Pathologist George Vittay said his examination revealed Mr Hunt had sustained a broken elbow in the fall but there were no suspicious injuries. But he did discover the publican was suffering from a heart condition, lung disease and a chest infection.

Further tests revealed Mr Hunt had 313 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit for a driver is 80 milligrammes. Mr Vittay said the high reading could have triggered irregular breathing and the heart failure.

The publican’s widow, Hazel Hunt, told the coroner that her husband did occasionally drink heavily but had been trying to cut down.

Miss Cobb recorded a verdict of death from natural causes.