The identity of a young man whose body was discovered by a beachcomber on a remote beach in Camelford remains a mystery.

And the circumstances surrounding how he died is also unknown, a coroner said this week.

The assistant coroner for Cornwall Guy Davies said:"This is an unusual inquest because it concerns an unknown male - a male of unknown identity." 

Truro Coroner's Court was told a beachcomber who had been staying at the Poldark Inn went to the rarely used and remote Tregardock beach near Camelford in December 2021.

Mr Davies said access to the beach was down a steep path and the beachcomber climbed over rocks to get to a small sandy beach.

The badly decomposed body had suffered significant injuries to the head, ribs and spine but a forensic post mortem concluded that they were not caused by an assault during the man's life - but by being washed up against the rocks having been in the sea for several days.

The body did not have any tattoos and no jewellery was on the white man who was 6' 1" tall and weighed 15 stone.

There was no drug or alcohol in his system and the pathologist Dr Deboral Cook said the cause of death was ascertained. 

The police made checks against the national DNA database and the missing persons database but there were no matches. Fingerprints could not be taken because of the state of decomposition and dental records also proved fruitless.

Detective Constable Jim McDonald, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "Despite the efforts of the police the identification remains unknown and the circumstances of how he died also remains unknown."

Coroner Mr Davies recorded an open conclusion.

He said the post mortem established that none of the injuries caused or contributed to the unknown man's death.