A man who died of auto-erotic asphyxiation had a heart condition which may have contributed to his death.

An inquest was held into the death of Viktors Ivanovs, 53, at Norfolk's Coroner Court in Norwich on Thursday.

Mr Ivanovs died on April 21 this year at his home on Prince's Road in Great Yarmouth, and was discovered by his partner.

The two had stayed in drinking the night before, with Mr Ivanovs' alcohol level reading at 240mg per 100ml of blood.

The builder had lived in the town for eight years, the inquest heard, and was born in Latvia.

The medical cause of death was given as auto-erotic asphyxiation and coronary artery atheroma.

At the inquest, area coroner Yvonne Blake heard that Mr Ivanovs had been in a new relationship, and had been telling friends how happy he was in the weeks before his death.

In evidence read aloud, Det Sgt Darren Read said there had been no defensive injuries found, and no signs of struggle at the scene.

He said he could not rule out third party involvement, though there was nothing to suggest it was the case, and could not rule out that his death was the result of a sex game or suicidal intentions.

Det Sgt Read said despite a previous history of self harm, there was no "obvious recent catalyst".

Mr Ivanovs was described in the inquest as a "very nice person".

Coroner Ms Blake concluded that Mr Ivanovs' death was a result of misadventure and said: "There is no evidence to suggest Viktors Ivanovs committed suicide. He had developed a new relationship in which he and she were extremely happy.

"He appeared to take very good care of her and she appeared to take good care of him.

"They seemed very happy.

"Given the pathologist's conclusion and the fact that Mr Ivanovs had quite severe coronary atheroma, which may have played quite a significant part in his demise - had he not had that he might have just passed out - I'm going to conclude that he died as a result of misadventure."