FORMER Bath Rugby player Tom Voyce’s car was found in 7ft of water after it was swept away while he tried to drive across a ford during Storm Darragh last month.

An inquest, which opened at County Hall in Morpeth, Northumberland, heard how the 43 year old’s Toyota Hilux was found submerged in the River Aln, four days before his body was recovered from deep water further downstream.

Northumberland corner, Andrew Hetherington, heard how Mr Voyce, who hails from Truro, and is a former England Rugby player, was last seen around 11.45pm on Saturday, December 7, when he left the Queen’s Head pub in Glanton.

His wife Anna reported him missing the following morning when she realised he had not returned home.

An extensive search of the River Aln was carried out in the days that followed, initially finding Mr Voyce’s car, after which the body of the former Bath, Gloucester and Wasps winger was found in ‘deep water’ on December 12 by a member of the UK Search and Rescue Service at Old Abberwick Mill.

The coroner adjourned the inquest and said the hearing will conclude on April1 .

In a previous statement, Mrs Voyce described how the whole family had been left ‘absolutely devastated’ by her husband’s death.

She said: “My main focus now is our son Oscar. All of Tom’s family were involved in the search. I will forever be grateful to my brothers, Hugh and Jamie, Aidan Philipson and Garry Whitfield for coordinating the search party working alongside the police teams.

“Tom would have been blown away by the amount of people that were out there helping. We have all been overwhelmed by the support of friends, many travelling from far afield to help with the search.”