AN INQUEST has opened into the death of man at Pontcysyllte Aqueduct last month. 

Paul James Handforth, of Long Lane, Haughton, Tarporley, died on August 22. 

At County Hall in Ruthin on Monday (September 9), an inquest was opened into the 43-year-old artist's death.

It heard that on the morning of August 22, a member of the public walking along the aqueduct reported seeing a person in the water below. 

Police officers attended and found a person face down in the water.

The fire service subsequently attended to retrieve the body, later identified as Mr Handforth, from the water, and the death was sadly confirmed at 11.40am. 

A pathologist's provisional cause of death following a post-mortem examination is head injury. 

A full inquest has been adjourned until a later date.