FISHERMAN Michael Lambert drowned in Portland Harbour after an all day drinking session, an inquest heard.

Crewmates spotted the 59-year-old trawlerman floating in the water between their trawler and a jetty after he went missing earlier in the night.

The inquest in Dorchester yesterday heard that alcohol levels in Mr Lambert's body were four times the legal limit for driving.

West Dorset coroner Michael Johnston recorded an open verdict on the lifelong fisherman's death after hearing that no one saw him fall in the harbour.

The inquest was told that Mr Lambert downed cans of bitter while travelling with 14 crewmates on a coach from Hull to join the Westella trawler at Portland.

His friend Ian Rouse said that Mr Lambert, who lived in Dalewood Close, Hull, drank more pints at a motorway service station en route.

He added that Mr Lambert carried on drinking bitter and double rums in the Green Shutters pub in Castletown when they arrived before their Hull-registered ship.

Crew spent about two and a half hours in the pub before boarding the coach for a short ride to a deep water jetty when the trawler arrived.

Bosun Darren Stansfield said Mr Lambert was one of two people last out of the pub last November.

Crewmate Ian Rouse said the last time he saw Mr Lambert alive was on the coach when it arrived at the jetty.

Concerns grew for Mr Lambert, although some crew returned to Castletown pubs as force nine gales delayed the ship's departure.

Mr Stansfield later spotted Mr Lambert's body when he went on to the deck of the ship to check the mooring ropes and phone his wife at about 5am.

He said: "I looked down over the rails.

"I saw a carrier bag and a big dark object and thought it was a bin liner."

He added: "I borrowed a torch and shone it down and notice some clothing. It was Mick's coat and thought it must be him."

Doctors found 326 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in Mr Lambert's body. He also had cuts and bruises on his body as well as a dislocated knee.

West Dorset coroner Michael Johnston said Mr Lambert drowned, but added that the evidence failed to show how he came to be in the water.