BROADCASTER Jonathan Hewat died after an accidental fall from a window at his home in Bradford on Avon, an inquest has ruled.

The inquest in Salisbury, heard that Mr Hewat, 75, of Wine Street, had been found dead outside his home on September 5, having fallen from a first-floor bedroom window.

A post-mortem examination revealed that the retired BBC Radio 4 presenter died as a result of sustaining a fractured skull.

Investigating officer PC Robert Poyle, of Wiltshire Police, said there had been no suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Hewat’s death.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, senior coroner David Ridley said: “There is no evidence to support any conclusion that he had intended to take his own life.”

Giving evidence at the inquest, Mr Hewat’s 31-year-old daughter, Laura, said that she had found her father after returning from work.

She said: “I remember that, on the evening, he said he wanted to go to bed, and that he was very tired because he didn’t have his usual nap in the afternoon. It was a relatively normal day and he went to bed at his usual time of 8.30pm. The only thing I noticed that was different was that the light was on in the morning.

“I get up at 4am or 5am, so I couldn’t say whether the window was open and because of his [changing] sleep patterns, I didn’t think anything of it.”

After returning from work later that afternoon, Miss Hewat noticed that the same light was on.

Gardening work that Mr Hewat had said he would do that day had also not been started. She decided to check on her father and it was then that she discovered his body.

It was revealed at the inquest that Mr Hewat had alcohol in his system, but Miss Hewat said he often enjoyed a drink in the evening.

Mr Ridley said that because only 25mg of alcohol was found, which is substantially lower than the national drink-drive limit of 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, this would not have played any role in Mr Hewat’s fall.

The father-of-three was also described as a 10-a-day smoker and Mr Ridley said that this could have been a reason why the “tall, thin window” was open.

Mr Hewat co-founded the Bradford on Avon Wine Appreciation Society, which has nearly 200 members and was given the chance to be mayor for the day in 2012.