THE FATHER of an amateur photographer found dead at the bottom of a 200-foot cliff has said his `clumsy' son may have fallen.

The body of Manchester accountant Michael Clark, 38, was found on a beach near picturesque Mullion Cove in Cornwall last November.

His father Charles told an inquest it was possible his son could have stumbled on a cliff path while taking a picture.

Mr Clark who lives in Derbyshire, took a collection of his son's coastal photographs to the inquest and told the coroner: "Michael loved to walk the coastlines. He was a bit clumsy. It may have been that he was taking a photograph and got too close to the edge."

Coroner Barrie Van den Berg recorded an open verdict saying he could not be sure however, that that is what happened.

He said: "Michael Clark may have slipped... but that is a little speculative."

The inquest was told that Michael, who worked for Marks and Spencer in Manchester, had been reported missing by his bosses twelve days earlier, when he failed to return to work on November 5 after a holiday.

His father said he had last seen him on November 11, less than a week before his death, when he had socialised quite normally at a family get-together.

But he added: "He was angry about things at work, saying he had to justify everything and that his employers wanted to know what his ambitions were.

"He was not happy about being pushed to do things. The next day we were informed his employers had reported him missing."

Detective Constable Joanne Exelby told the hearing that Mr Clark's car had been found parked close to Halzephron Cliff where he fell, but they found no evidence he had intended to take his own life.

She said: "The weather was cold and very windy. When I stood at the top of the cliff it was necessary to step back, but it was not sufficiently windy to blow anyone off."

Pathologist Dr Hugh Jones said Mr Clark had died from multiple injuries, including a fracture at the base of the skull.

He was found by a coastguard lying dead on the beach on November 17.

Michael's father said after the hearing: "He was a lovely lad, very gentle and very interesting, very well liked, and his death is a big loss to us all."