A man who was drunk and had taken illegal drugs was killed by an express train as he tried to make his way home, an inquest heard.

James Colquhoun, of Skipton Road, Ilkley, died on Saturday, October 19, last year when he was struck by the train near Cottingley Station at Leeds.

Mr Colquhoun, 21, had been out drinking in Leeds following a football match at Elland Road.

He mistakenly boarded a Huddersfield-bound train while trying to get home to Ilkley, and the conductor advised him to get off at Cottingley Station and catch a bus back to Leeds.

But just minutes later, he was struck by a Liverpool-to-Leeds train as he walked along the ballast area between the two railway tracks. He is thought to have been killed instantly.

A jury at Leeds Coroners' Court today yesterday returned a verdict of misadventure, after hearing how a post-mortem revealed Mr Colquhoun had drunk four times the legal driving limit and ecstasy was found in his stomach. The cause of death was multiple injuries.

"There was evidence of substantial intoxication," consultant home office pathologist Professor Christopher Milroy told the jury.

He said the amount of alcohol consumed alone would have been enough to render some people unconscious, and Mr Colquhoun's judgement would have been impaired even if he had not taken ecstasy as well.

Mr Colquhoun lived with his girlfriend, Sarah, at a basement flat on Skipton Road, and worked as a dry-stone waller.

The driver of the express train, Paul Davis, told the inquest that Mr Colquhoun, who had his back turned to the train, did not respond to blasts of the train's horn.

He said that after he rounded a sweeping corner, he only caught sight of Mr Culquhoun for a maximum of five seconds - during which time he applied emergency brakes - before the collision. The train had been travelling at 75 miles per hour before it began braking.

Mr Colquhoun was confirmed dead by paramedics.

British Transport Police investigated the incident after an anonymous tip-off that illegal drugs had been involved.

Detective Chief Inspector Michael Field, of Leeds-based transport police, told the inquest several arrests had been made as a result of the investigation.