AN INQUEST has been opened into the death of a man found dead in a stream close to the M20.

A post mortem revealed that Robert Heskins, 60, of Casino House, Military Road, Canterbury, drowned but had also suffered a head injury.

Although his death is not being treated as suspicious, police want to know how he came to be injured.

They are piecing together a sequence of events which began when Mr Heskins was found lying on the ground near his home in Military Road at about 11.15pm on August 24 with a head wound.

The divorced father-of-three was taken to Kent and Canterbury Hospital and then transferred to Ashford's William Harvey Hospital early the following morning.

He was discharged in the afternoon after treatment but was later the same day seen wandering along the side of the M20 at Ashford.

He was shepherded off the motorway by highway patrol officers and up a slip road to safety.

But five days later a group of naturalists out looking for water voles found him face down in a stream near Highfield Lane in Ashford.

Now police have launched an appeal for information as to how Mr Heskins suffered the head injury in Military Road.

Det Insp Ian Nundy said: “We want to contact anyone who was with Mr Heskins in Canterbury on August 24 or may have seen him during the evening. It is important for us and his family to discover how he received his injury.”

Police say inquiries already conducted have revealed that a young man walked past the people who found Mr Heskins in Canterbury on the evening of August 24 and asked if everything was fine. Mr Heskins was on the ground at this point.

Detectives are keen to talk to this man as he may have some more information that may help them.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 01227 868241.

The funeral will be held on Friday (September 14) at 11.20am at Barham Crematorium. Family members say all who knew him are welcome to attend.