A YOUNG backpacker died when he was sucked under water while swimming in a swollen river in Cambodia, an inquest has heard.

Onlookers were helpless to save Steven Griffiths, 21, of Merrifields, Cotford St Luke, as he waved his arms and shouted for help.

The inquest was told that Mr Griffiths had been staying in the High Tide guest house in Kampot for a week and a half.

He spent the night before his death drinking beer and watching movies with fellow backpacker Rowan Steele.

The next morning, Mr Griffiths, who had only recently learnt to swim, decided to go for a dip in the River Kampot, which had become swollen following heavy overnight rain.

He soon got into difficulty and a statement to the inquest from coroner's officer Michael Salter said: "He started shouting but no-one could get to him and he went under the water.

RELATED: Steven Griffiths, of Cotford St Luke, drowned in River Kampot, in Cambodia

"His body was not found for a number of hours."

Mr Griffiths, who was educated at Kingsmead School, Wiveliscombe, and Richard Huish College, Taunton, had been working as a chef in Thailand before moving on to Cambodia.

Mr Steele, in a written statement, said he had slept in on the morning of July 13 last year and only discovered his friend had drowned when he heard people shouting.

He said: "Someone heard him shout for help and was only quick enough to see his arm going under the river.

"People were in the water looking for him and the owner (of the guest house) was trying to arrange a boat."

A local priest performed a religious ceremony on the body of Mr Griffiths, who was single, before he was returned to the UK.

Tony Williams, senior coroner for Somerset, concluded that Mr Griffiths's death was accidental and gave the cause as drowning.

The dead man's mother, Nicole Cording, told the County Gazette last July that her son was a "free spirit".

She said: "He didn't want to conform to society where you have to work to go on holiday - he wanted to travel and earn.

"He'd been saving up to come home in a few weeks and was planning on working here for a year before travelling around Europe.

"He didn't like to be grounded. He was a free spirit."