A young woman found drowned in the canal had consumed an excessive quantity of alcohol on the last day she was seen alive, an inquest heard.

Lithuanian Zivile Gankovaite, 26, had spent the afternoon of Sunday, May 24, drinking cans of lager with her boyfriend Darius Strikas in the garden of their home in James Street, Sheerness.

At around 6pm, they went out to buy more drinks, including a bottle of rum, and also purchased a kebab which they took to one of their favourite spots, a bench beside the canal at Barton’s Point.

At around 9.30pm, Mr Strikas decided he needed to go home in order to be fit for his early shift at Morrisons distribution centre in Kemsley where the couple both worked, but Miss Gankovaite stayed on.

Mr Strikas told police that when he left, the bottle of rum was about half full.

Police later recovered an empty bottle at the scene.

When Mr Strikas awoke at 5am the next day, Miss Gankovaite had not come home.

He went to look for her at Barton’s Point, but didn’t see her, though he did find a trainer shoe and jacket he thought were hers.

When he finished work at 3pm, she was still not home.

He began phoning and using Facebook to ask their friends if anyone had seen her, but no one had.

At 9.20pm he phoned police to report her missing and showed officers the bench where he had last seen her.

An officer spotted her body in the water at 9am the next day, only 40ft from the bench.

Investigating officer DCI Jon Clayden said that initially it appeared the body was wrapped in plastic, but that later turned out not to be the case.

Police arrested Mr Strikas, but he was later released without charge when it became clear there was no evidence of foul play.

A post-mortem examination by pathologist Olaf Biedrzycki found that Miss Gankovaite had drowned. There was no evidence of any assault.

Toxicologist Dr Simon Elliot found 271mg of alcohol in 100ml of her blood – the drink-drive limit is 80mg.

Coroner Patricia Harding heard evidence that the couple were known heavy drinkers.

In March 2013, police had been called to Sheerness High Street, where both were found to be drunk and disorderly.

In January 2014, they were called again by a neighbour when the couple had a loud alcohol-fuelled argument.

Mrs Harding said although Miss Gankovaite was “more than a social drinker”, the quantity of alcohol she had consumed “would have made her drunk”.

She said the evidence “could point to a tragic accident” but said although there was no evidence of any third party involvement, without any CCTV or eye-witness accounts, it was impossible to say exactly how or indeed when Miss Gankovaite ended up in the water.

She recorded an open conclusion.

Miss Gankovaite moved to the UK three years ago.

Her closest relatives, a mother and brother, were unable to fly over from Lithuania for the inquest.