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A reclusive pair of twins who fell more than 200ft over a cliff to their deaths were carrying the ashes of their dead parents in rucksacks, a coroner was told.

Muriel and Bernard Burgess, 59, had sought counselling as they struggled to come to terms with the death of their parents and especially their mother, who died in 2014.

The bodies of the twins, originally from north Wales , were found at the foot of the White Cliffs of Dover on New Year’s Day.

The siblings fell more than 200ft in an area known as Langdon Cliffs in Dover, Kent, and were found by rescue teams searching for Gulf War veteran Scott Enion, 45, whose body was also recovered.

One rucksack recovered near the twins contained ashes with their mother’s name and it emerged a second rucksack had their father’s ashes inside.

An inquest in Maidstone, Kent, into all three deaths heard Mr and Miss Burgess were recluses who lived together in a static caravan and were single and had no children.

'Low mood'

Detective Sergeant Stuart Ward, of Kent Police, said their late parents were also called Bernard and Muriel. Mr Burgess senior died in 1984 and Mrs Burgess senior died 30 years later.

Senior coroner Patricia Harding said that in September last year the Burgess twins attended a consultation with their GP amid reports of having “low mood” since their mother’s death.

Both were unemployed, struggled financially and sold the family home in north Wales to buy a caravan together at Orchard Park in the village of Elton, Cheshire.

For three months last year the brother and sister disappeared for three months and went into rent arrears, according to the caravan park manager.

Mr Ward said: “They returned and said that they went walking somewhere in the UK.”

On Christmas Day police were called to the pair on the Dover clifftop after Mr Burgess was spotted by a concerned passer-by sheltering by a large rock.

Miss Burgess told police they had travelled to Dover to do some walking over the Christmas period and the officer reported no concern for them.

Mr Ward said there was “no indication” they came to scatter their parents’ ashes. And Mrs Harding said she could not be sure they intended to take their own lives.

Recording an open conclusion for both Mr and Miss Burgess, Mrs Harding said: “They were struggling to come to terms with the death of their parents, particularly the death of their mother in 2014.

“It is clear from the evidence that they were both of the view that they could be assisted by counselling. Muriel and Bernard were reclusive and would keep themselves to themselves and disappear and go for walks within the UK.”

Mrs Harding added: “The evidence doesn’t disclose to the required standard of proof whether there was an intention by them to take their own lives or was indeed simply a tragic accident.”

In the case of Mr Enion, of Waltham Gardens, Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, Mrs Harding recorded a conclusion of suicide after hearing that CCTV footage captured a figure jumping from the cliffs.

The inquest heard Mr Enion had served in the British Army from 1988 to 1996, and was deployed to the Gulf during the first Gulf War in January 1991.

Mr Ward said: “He had spoken in the past that he had been bullied in the Army due to his racial background and he had considered suicide.”

Mr Enion also felt he suffered from Gulf War Syndrome, which culminated in health problems, including fatigue and headaches, and had witnessed comrades killed after coming under friendly fire.

However his suicidal thoughts were described as “historical” and he was last seen by his GP last October 13 for a headache. No relatives for either Mr Enion or the Burgess twins attended the inquest.