Graham Cook, Bridge Pilot at Potter Heighham. Credit: Broads Authority.

Preliminary investigations into the death of a popular Broads bridge pilot have indicated that he drowned.

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The body of Graham Cook, 38, was found last Friday in a dyke next to the River Thurne in Potter Heigham.

Great Yarmouth-born Mr Cook lived on a houseboat close to the Phoenix Fleet boatyard, which was where he worked as a pilot.

An inquest into his death was opened and adjourned in Norwich today (Wednesday). Norfolk coroner William Armstrong said Mr Cook’s body had been found by a Broads Authority ranger.

He said: “The very brief circumstances are that he was last seen walking back to his houseboat in Potter Heigham at about 11.15pm on Thursday, February 2.

“At some stage he entered the water and he was found the following morning at about 9am in a dyke off the main river.”

Mr Armstrong said a post-mortem examination had been carried out by pathologist Dr Xenia Tyler and the preliminary report indicated the cause of death was drowning.

He said further investigations were continuing. The inquest was adjourned to a date to be fixed.