16 August 2012 Last updated at 13:50 ET

Camping death caused by barbecue

Mr Bainbridge was staying in a camping pod in Penrith

A man died in a "tragic accident" caused by a barbecue inside a camping pod, a coroner has ruled.

Christopher Bainbridge, 45, from Darlington, died of carbon monoxide poisoning at The Quiet Site Caravan Park in Ullswater, Cumbria, in March.

His wife Jane Bainbridge, 42, was found by staff three days after the barbecue was lit, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

It is not clear at what point during the three days that Mr Bainbridge died.

Mrs Bainbridge survived after "drifting in and out of consciousness".

Recording a verdict of accidental death, South Cumbria coroner Ian Smith said the death highlighted the potentially fatal consequences of setting anything alight in an enclosed area.

Giving evidence at County Hall, Kendal, Mrs Bainbridge said she had no recollection of even using a barbecue or bringing it inside the pod - described at the hearing as a "no frills" wooden hut with no ventilation.

She said she later found a photograph taken on her camera of the pair standing smiling behind the lit barbecue outside the pod on 9 March.

The alarm was raised when Mr Bainbridge's colleagues at Darlington Borough Council, where he was a management information officer, became concerned when he did not attend work the following week.

His wife's mother then called the holiday park and the owner and site manager forced the door open and found a semi-conscious Mrs Bainbridge lying on the floor and her husband's body in the corner.