The body of an Oxford man was dragged 70ft along a canal after it became hooked up in the propeller of a narrowboat.

Errol Radburn had been missing from his Lake Street home for more than a month, when his body was discovered in the canal.

Boat maintenance worker Gareth Jones told an inquest on Wednesday he was taking the new boat from the College Cruisers Boatyard in Combe Road, Jericho, to fill it up with diesel at about 9.45am on January 29.

He noticed it was not handling well and suspected something was wrapped around the propeller.

Using a hook he tried to pull up what he thought was a mattress or blanket.

He said: "It disappeared from the hatch. I looked down the side of the boat. I saw what looked like the arch of a neck as if someone was leaning forward. I thought it was a mannequin. Then I realised it was real."

Investigations later identified 27-year-old Mr Radburn and revealed his family had been searching for him since his disappearance the week before Christmas 2000.

Consultant pathologist Dr Colin Clelland said sludge was found in Mr Radburn's airways and cocaine, heroin, morphine and alcohol was found in his blood.

Dr Clelland said it was most likely that he drowned, but the overdose could explain why he fell into the water.

Oxfordshire Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded an open verdict and said the evidence had failed to uncover the full circumstances of the death.

He said: "On the evidence it appears to me that Mr Radburn drowned in the canal shortly before Christmas."