THE INQUEST into a man found dead in the Sovereign Centre carpark has been opened.

Trevor Vernon, 40, was found unresponsive in the carpark on February 18, coroner Brendan Allan told the inquest.

An ambulance was called, paramedics attended and confirmed he was dead at 9.10pm.

Witnesses said they had seen Mr Vernon, who lived in Albion Road, Christchurch, drinking with some women before he died.

A post-mortem was undertaken on February 27 which found the 40-year-old, who was unemployed at the time, died from a heroin overdose.

His death was not treated as suspicious.

Mr Vernon was born in Colchester and was single at the time of his death.

Mr Allan adjourned the inquest until October 21 and requested statements from Mr Vernon’s GP and police regarding their investigation.

A statement was also requested from the local drug treatment agencies.