INQUEST: Tributes paid to Eastbourne bus driver

Christopher David Hawarth, 42, was found dead on the beach between Cow Gap and Falling Sands near Beachy Head on August 10 this year.

Adrian Cook, a volunteer litter picker on the seafront, discovered his body, which was recovered by the Eastbourne lifeboat.

An inquest into his death at Eastbourne Town Hall this week heard Mr Hawarth had left his home in York Road in the early hours of the morning and the alarm was raised when he failed to turn up to work.

His fiancee Claire Private said the couple had been together for three years and Mr Hawarth was trying to set up a new business.

“He was a special unique and wonderful man,” said Ms Private, who lived with Mr Hawarth in York Road.

“He was very family orientated.”

Detective Sergeant Ross Bartlett said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Hawarth’s death.

Recording a verdict of suicide East Sussex coroner Alan Craze said, “I do not think Mr Hawarth was acting rationally when he fell to his death.”