A ROUGH sleeper, well known to many in Bolton, died of natural causes exacerbated by historic drug use, an inquest has heard.

Peter ‘Trigger’ Charnock, 47, of no fixed abode, was discovered collapsed and unresponsive in a car parked in Haslam Street, Great Lever, and pronounced dead at the scene by emergency services on July 1 this year.

Mr Charnock was often seen around the Great Lever and Daubhill areas of Bolton, and tributes flooded in for him after the news of his death broke.

An inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court by senior coroner, Timothy Brennand, heard how Mr Charnock had a long-standing history of drug dependency issues and associated drug induced mental illness.

In the days leading up to his death he had been sleeping rough in a car, unknown to the car’s owner, with a post-mortem examination finding that he had recently taken the drug amphetamine at recreational levels.

Police recovered drugs and drug related paraphernalia in the car that he had been sleeping in.

Mr Brennand concluded that Mr Charnock “died as the consequence of naturally occurring disease and the exacerbating effects of recent and historic drug misuse”.

After his death many people paid tribute to the ‘local legend’.

Michelle Phillips, a friend of Mr Charnock's sister Julie, said: “It is with great sadness that Julie has asked me to let you know that this morning she received the sad news that the legend Pete Charnock, Julie’s brother, has passed away and she is absolutely devastated.”

Resident Junaid Patel said: “He was part of the Daubhill furniture.

“I never knew him personally but I’ve seen him around for more than 20 years. If you’d wave he’d wave back.

“Most school kids know who he was. His nickname was ‘Trigger’."