It was impossible to say what caused a 53-year-old Shropshire sales director to have a heart attack while swimming in the sea on a Spanish holiday, a coroner has ruled.

Nicholas Jones, of Cleobury Mortimer, collapsed and died while swimming at Kalpa, near Alicante, in August 2007.

South Shropshire coroner Anthony Sibcy yesterday recorded a narrative verdict because, he said, he could not be sure which of the scenarios presented to him in evidence led to Mr Jones’s heart failure.

Mr Jones was on holiday with friends and family, including his two teenage children, when the tragedy occurred, the inquest at Ludlow Magistrates’ Court was told.

Friends Tracy and Brian Baldwin said Mr Jones was engulfed by a huge wave during a final swim on the last day of the holiday.

Luke Baldwin, the couple’s son, was in the water. He heard Mr Jones call for help and went to his aid.

He said: “He was really heavy. I struggled to keep him up.”

Mrs Baldwin said rescuers were forced to drag Mr Jones up the beach.

Resuscitation attempts failed and Mr Jones was declared dead at a nearby health centre, the inquest was told.

A Spanish pathology report said the cause of death was heart failure, secondary to mechanical asphyxia by drowning.

But consultant pathologist Professor Archibald Malcolm said: “I think the stress of Mr Jones in that situation in the water is the triggering factor for his having a heart attack.”