A businessman found dead on his boat at Conwy marina choked on a large piece of ham, an inquest heard.

The alarm was raised on October 6 when Sarah Barker became worried that she could not contact her husband David who had gone to the boat – named “My Sarah” – with his dog from their home in Dronfield, North Derbyshire.

Mrs Barker rang the marina’s berthing master Martin Thomas who went to investigate and heard the dog barking. He then spotted Mr Barker’s body and tried to resuscitate him even though, he later said, he knew he was already dead.

CCTV footage of Mr Barker, a 54-year-old company director, showed him walking his dog at 9.40pm the previous evening.

A post-mortem examination by pathologist Dr Andrew Dalton found that he had 234 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, the equivalent of about six pints and roughly three times the drink-drive limit.

Dr Dalton said that a very large slice of ham had blocked his airway and the level of alcohol would also have affected him.

At the hearing in Ruthin John Gittins, coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded a conclusion of accidental death.