EXTENSIVE enquiries were made to locate the family of a man found dead in a tent says the Worcestershire coroner.

The body of rough sleeper Cardon Banfield was discovered in a tent near Worcestershire County Cricket Club in Worcester on July 5 last year.

As previously reported in the Worcester News he was described as having no next of kin at the inquest into his death in Stourport last year.

However, a year on it has been revealed that members of his family, including his mother, sister and niece are still alive in the Caribbean and did not know the 74-year-old was dead.

Worcestershire coroner Geraint Williams said: "Extensive enquiries are always made and can, depending on the circumstances, involve my officers speaking with the police (who then conduct enquiries on my behalf), GP surgeries friends and neighbours, social services, day centres, enquiries at the last known address and of anyone known to have a connection with the deceased.

"All of the enquiries in Mr Banfield's case proved negative."

Mr Banfield's body was so badly decomposed he could only be identified from DNA analysis.

Mr Banfield, the youngest of eight children, lost touch with his family after he left Saint Vincent in the Caribbean in 1960 on a vessel called 'The Geese'.

Cardon's mother, Doris Banfield, 94, has not yet been told of her son's death out of concern for the grief it would cause her. She still lives in Trinidad with her daughter, Judy.

The coroner recorded an open conclusion as the exact medical cause of death could not be ascertained.