An experienced climber fell to his death when a metal wedge came loose, it was revealed at an inquest.

Raymond Lindley told the hearing in Ruthin that his companion Liam Hughes was not a “risk-taker” and had all the right equipment.

The two were among 12 members of Clwyd Mountaineering Club who met near Llangollen’s Panorama Walk on the evening of June 7.

Mr Lindley told the inquest that the two of them began one climb on the limestone Trevor Rocks but Liam decided not to continue.

He was lowered off but then set up an abseil to recover his gear.

“I heard a noise and Liam went past me,” said Mr Lindley.

He later found that a metal wedge had come free, causing his friend to fall about 15 metres.

Members of the group carried out CPR until paramedics, members of the North East Wales Search and Rescue team and the Maritime and Customs Agency helicopter arrived.

Mr  Hughes, 42, a self-employed software engineer, of Pen-y-Bryn, Sychdyn, near Mold, was declared dead at the scene and following a post-mortem examination Dr Zain Mehdi gave the cause of death as multiple injuries.

Asked by Kate Robertson, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, whether there was anything else Mr Hughes could have done or used, Mr Lindley replied: “What he did was the usual.”

He said he and his companions knew the local climbs well and Mr Hughes was a very competent climber.

“He was not a risk-taker,” he said.

The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

At the time of his death, Mr Hughes’s sister Michelle Jones described him as “one in a million, with a heart so big he couldn’t help but share it out”.

“He died doing what he loved doing best,” she added.

Among social media tributes the chairman of Clwyd Mountaineering Club Baz Whale said: “Liam was an exemplar in the club of everything he did.”