A BUSY summer's day on Ullswater turned to tragedy as two girls in an inflatable dinghy watched their father slip beneath the cold waters never to resurface alive, an inquest heard.

Ian Morton, North Eastern Cumbria's coroner, recorded a verdict of misadventure at a hearing into the death of Raymond Arthur William Didcock, 56, a bus mechanic from Essex on July 22 last year.

Mr Didcock went to swim in the lake with two of his children while he was on holiday with his family, the court heard.

He was swimming in the waters, which were still cold despite the sunshine, pushing his daughters as he went when he sank beneath the waves.

The court heard one of the first people to do anything to help was Damien Finnigan, who runs a boat hire firm on the lake. "I was in the office when a chap ran in and said There's a man drowning'," Mr Finnigan said.

He immediately put on a life jacket, started the engine of his high-speed safety boat and sped to the crowded cove where he found the drifting inflatable and the two girls. "One was crying, the other was just staring at me then said My dad. My daddy's down there," Mr Finnigan said.

He told the court he was directed to the spot where a witness had seen Mr Didcock go under and repeatedly dived into the cold water to try to find him but became increasingly exhausted by his efforts.

An aircraft engineer, and keen sub-aqua diver, Jamie Benton from Humberside, was with his family when he saw what was happening and offered to help.

In the silty darkness of the water, Mr Benton managed to locate Mr Didcock's body then remembered his rescue diving training.

He said: "I came across Mr Didcock's feet. He was laid with his back to me on his right side. I swum behind him, put my arms underneath his arms then blew out all my buoyancy air (from my diving jacket) and came to the surface."

Mr Didcock's widow Anna told the court she had tried to swim out to assist but struggled to even tread water in the cold.

"If I had gone under, I wouldn't have come up," she said. She told the court she had expected to see rubber rings to throw to help a swimmer in trouble but Mr Morton said such potentially life-saving items were often vandalised or stolen.

The coroner said it was sad that so many people enjoyed that "inviting and beautiful part of the country" without thinking of safety and recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.