A coroner has confirmed that the four victims of the Gargrave canal lock tragedy died from drowning.

Opening the inquest in Skipton yesterday, Coroner Jeremy Cave named the four people with learning difficulties who died in the accident at Stegneck Lock on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal last Wednesday.

They were Beverley Wilson, 33, Eric Jones, 43 and John Charles McGill, 49, all of Barrow-in-Furness, and Peter Burgess, 42, of Dalton-in-Furness.

Mr Cave said he could not give a date when the full inquest would take place and apologised for the brief opening to relatives of Mr Burgess who had travelled to Skipton.

A memorial service, organised by Cumbria County Council, is to be held for the four victims in Barrow although the date and venue have yet to be finalised.

They were on a week-long cruise with four staff from the Mill Lane Centre at Walney.

Councillor Anne Burns, chairman of Cumbria social services, said the service will allow the public to express their grief.

"There has been a lot of sympathy from the local community and everyone involved at Mill Lane," she said.

"This will give people the opportunity to pay their own personal respects as well as allow the families to grieve in private, especially at the individual funerals that are taking place this week."

Cumbria County Council is working with Craven District Council, the Health and Safety Executive and the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch to find out how the accident occurred.

The four carers are still coming to terms with the tragedy and are helping investigators with their inquiries.

Their boat, Drum Major, is believed to have snagged on a lock gate. As the water in the lock dropped, the stern went down somehow causing the boat to quickly flood with water.

The carers and passengers of another boat in the lock heroically tried to rescue the four and succeeded in getting three of them out of the water and on to the roof of the boat where resuscitation attempts failed.

Two firemen from Skipton wearing breathing apparatus reached the fourth victim, who was still trapped inside the boat, but again resuscitation attempts failed.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.