BRITISH tourists on holiday in Cuba battled in vain to save the life of a Bury Council boss, an inquest heard.

John Ball, who worked as a procurement manager in the environmental services department, suffered a suddenm heart attack while swimming off the Cuban coast last December.

A catamaran crew dragged his body on board the boat and a doctor from Cardiff, who was among 18 day-trippers snorkelling in the Caribbean, and the organiser of the trip, tried to resuscitate the 47-year-old bachelor.

Mr Ball was placed in a speedboat which raced him to shore as the GP and the tour operator continued to try and save him. He was pronounced dead when a doctor and a paramedic unit from the nearest hospital in Trinidad arrived at the beach.

A post mortem examination carried out by Cuban authorities concluded Mr Ball's death was caused by drowning.

However, Dr Mark Bradgate, a Rochdale consultant pathologist told the inquest in Bury that it was more probable that Mr Ball had suffered a cardiac arrest on entering the water.

Eye-witnesses said the council manager had complained he was feeling queasy on the day of his death but was one of the first holidaymakers on the boat to dive into the water without snorkelling equipment.

In a statement to the inquest, Mr Brendan Sainsbury, a tour leader with holiday company Exodus, said that Mr Ball had been on numerous vacations with company.

He continued: "The party had arrived in Cuba on December 2 and on the third day we went with 18 guests, including Mr Ball, on a sailing trip where the group could go snorkelling.

"The boat was anchored 500 metres from shore. Mr Ball and another client opted to swim without snorkelling equipment. The confidence of his dive suggested to me that he was a good swimmer."

The day trip then turned to tragedy as Mr Ball, who lived with his parents, Roland and Ethel, in Broadbent Drive, Bury, stopped swimming and floated face down in the water.

Coroner Mr Simon Nelson said: "Dr Bradgate has clearly indicated that Mr Ball's death had arisen as a result of a cardiac arrest triggered by the stimulation of the water.

"The circumstances, backed by the those provided statements, do not suggest to him the fact the Mr Ball had died by reason of drowning. Therefore, Mr Ball died as a result of a traumatic death following immersion in water."