A MAN died after falling down a flight of stairs at the Lee-on-the-Solent Sailing Club, an inquest was told.

Kenneth Booker suffered a fractured skull after falling down the outdoor stairs at the Stokes Bay Road club on February 28.

Mr Booker, 85, of Portsmouth Road, Lee-on-the-Solent, had enjoyed a dinner at the club that evening with friends, according to evidence given by coroner's officer Karen Hyde.

She told Portsmouth coroner's court how Mr Brooker lost his balance when negotiating the outside staircase.

"After coming down one flight of stairs the next door opened inward to an outside set of stairs. When he was at the top of the stairs he turned to speak to someone and lost his balance and suddenly stumbled and fell down the stairs," she said.

Mr Brooker, a retired civil servant, was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, where he was found to have fractured his left temple bone, an injury from which he died five days later.

In recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner James Kenroy said: "It would appear to be an accidental injury received when he lost his balance and fell down the stairs."