A 41-year-old sales manager who rolled himself over the edge of a cliff was struggling to pay child support, an inquest has heard.

Michael Parsons, from Devizes, appeared to be sleeping on the cliff edge in Dorset when he was woken up by a walker closing a gate on a coastal path.

He then rolled over twice and fell more than 360ft without making a sound on the evening of July 30.

Police found two carrier bags on the cliff near Swanage with a third-full bottle of whisky and a packet of paracetamol tablets with four left.

They also discovered suicide notes in his Mercedes car parked nearby.

Detective Constable Patrick Donnelly of Dorset Police said officers found letters from companies demanding money for outstanding loans at Mr Parsons' house.

Bournemouth, Poole and East Dorset Coroner's Court heard that Mr Parsons paid a third of his income to the Child Support Agency, he had a mortgage and repayments to meet on his car.

Mr Parsons also owed money to a friend and had recently defaulted on his repayments.

Lorraine Ray, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his 15-year-old daughter, said she had tried to get the amount he paid to the CSA reduced.

Ms Ray, who lives near Salisbury, said: "I did try to speak to the CSA about it. I said He has got to live. I have got to live.' but these people are a law unto themselves."

Holidaymaker Lyn Crossman saw Mr Parsons sleeping on the wrong side of a barbed wire fence six-foot from the cliff edge.

She said, in a statement read to the Bournemouth inquest: "The male appeared to me to be sleeping. My first thought was what a stupid place to fall asleep."

Ms Crossman, from Gloucestershire, added: "As I opened the gate it made a large clicking sound. The male seemed to wake up and had a surprised look on his face, like someone who has been woken suddenly.

"The male rolled over twice and then disappeared over the cliff. He didn't make a sound."

Pathologist Katie Boyd said Mr Parson's blood alcohol reading was just under the legal limit for driving.

The cause of death was given as damage to multiple organs consistent with a fall from a height. Coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a suicide verdict and said: "It was quite clear he intended to take his own life."