The Somerset coroner has held the formal inquest into the passionate and committed environmentalist from Frome, Alexander Seymour, who died aged 32 while diving in Cape Verde.

Alexander, who was born in Canada and was known to all as Zeddy' had been living and working on the island for seven years.

Previously working on turtle conservation he, along with four others, was out diving on July 17 last year, tagging tiger sharks as part of his conservation work.

The Senior Somerset Coroner, Mr Tony Williams was told, while the others returned to the boat, Zeddy, a qualified Marine Biologist, said he wanted one last dive and returned to the water.

At today's inquest the coroner read out statements from the local police and other divers - hearing that Zeddy was a hugely experienced marine conservationist, had been using specialist professional diving equipment and an expert free diver.

While on a working trip to the Pedra de Lume bay, he and five others had gone diving to collect scientific evidence about shark patterns.

Their work complete, all the other divers had returned to the boat off the island of Sal, one of the ten islands that make up Cape Verde , while Zeddy said he wanted to go back for one last time into the water.

The coroner read out a report from one of those on the boat that "It was some while before his body resurfaced" and the crew raced to the shore to call for help.

Zeddy, who came from Gare Hill in Frome, was flown back to the UK where there was a later post mortem by the pathologist at the Royal United Hospital.

Today (June 3) the Somerset Coroner, after assessing those details, along with reports from the local marine police on the island, concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death, which was formally declared to be "Death by drowning."

In an obituary published in The Times newspaper, it was written that Zeddy had been working on environmental projects in one of the most remote marine regions of west Africa, on behalf of MarAlliance (maralliance.org).