A FORMER soldier who served his country for nearly a decade ended up homeless and sleeping in a skip before his tragic death from alcohol poisoning.

Mark Andrew Whyatt, 46, had served with the Cheshire Regiment for eight years and had completed tours in China, Canada and Northern Ireland.

He died after collapsing in the Silkworm pub, on Mill Street, Macclesfield, last November - and a coroner linked his death with trauma he suffered in conflict.

He ended his days a homeless alcoholic, the inquest at Macclesfield town hall heard.

Mr Whyatt's partner Jane Arthurs told the inquest he showed her a skip behind the Grosvenor Centre, Macclesfield, where he had been sleeping, and hadn`t told anyone because he felt 'ashamed'.

She said: "He had post-traumatic stress from the Army and lots of problems with alcohol."

Recording a verdict of accidental death due to an acute alcohol overdose, Cheshire Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said: "I've heard Mr Whyatt was a serving soldier for a number of years and clearly had suffered traumatic experiences.

"Miss Arthurs has talked of post traumatic stress disorder and I think it's reasonable to deduce this was at the very least a contributory factor in him becoming dependent on alcohol."

Miss Arthurs said he had drunk a bottle of vodka while they visited Wetherspoons on Park Lane, the Prince of Wales on Roe Street and the Silkworm on Mill Street, all in Macclesfield

After leaving the pub for a short time, she returned to find the manager trying to revive Mr Whyatt, but he died later.

His mother, Brenda Whyatt, 76, of Shrigley Court, Bollington, said after his death last year: "When he came back from Northern Ireland, he wasn't the same. I used to ask him about it, but he wouldn't talk to me."