A Trowbridge man who died after falling from a multi-storey car park took his own life, a coroner has ruled.

Anthony Wyllie, 51, of Bradley Road, suffered from depression and had a history of alcohol abuse, an inquest in Salisbury heard on Tuesday.

At around 1pm on June 9 Joanna Hiller-Culley, from Burbage, was looking for a parking space on the top floor of St Stephen’s Place multi-storey car park when she saw Mr Wyllie in the corner climbing a wall.

“I thought it was strange and immediately thought the worst,” she told the inquest.

“I carried on driving round. I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. I parked my car to go over to talk to him but he had already disappeared.

“I thought maybe he had stepped down on to a ledge beneath but I looked over the top and couldn’t see him.

“I ran down the stairs and came out of the entrance, by which point there were two ladies standing near him.”

Mr Wyllie had landed on the pavement below, near the exit of the car park, and sustained extensive injuries.

An ambulance and police arrived and Mr Wyllie was taken to Royal United Hospital in Bath, but he died several hours later of multiple injuries, including a complete pelvic fracture and head injuries.

The day before his death his mother, Regina Dunhill, visited his home at 11.45am and saw that Mr Wyllie, a refuse collector, was drunk.

“I said it wasn’t acceptable not turning up for work,” said Ms Dunhill in a report read out at the inquest.

“He hadn’t called in sick and I was worried he would get the sack.”

Mr Wyllie, a former paratrooper, told his mother he would try and sleep for the rest of the day.

Ian Singleton, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, recorded a verdict of suicide and said: “In my view it is a deliberate act on his part and I am sure he intended to take his own life.”