The widow of a policeman who died when a bridge crumbled under him in last year's Cumbria floods wept as footage of the incident was shown at his inquest.

PC Bill Barker, 44, had been called to direct motorists away from Northside Bridge in Workington when it gave way after torrential downpours.

A hearing into his death heard his last words were: "Let's get out of here!"

The father-of-four plunged 20ft into the swollen River Derwent and was knocked unconscious, probably after hitting his head on a rock.

He was swept downstream and his body was found the next day on a beach in nearby Allonby.

PC Barker's wife Hazel cried as a silent CCTV video of the bridge collapsing on November 20 last year was shown to the jury.

Giving evidence, PC Barker's partner PC Mark Ormerod said they answered a call to the bridge after reports of a vehicle falling in the water.

He said: "We'd only been there 20 to 30 seconds. I heard a dull rumble and a crack and turned to look at Billy (PC Barker).

"I saw the pavement had gone and saw a flash of yellow.

"I dropped to my tummy and went to the edge to look over. There was a straight edge line.

"It looked like a knife had cut through it like butter. I could see a torrent of brown, dirty, frothing water.

"There was no sign of Billy."

The jury was told more lives could have been lost in the tragedy if passers-by had not warned motorists away from the bridge.

CCTV footage showed that a bus inspector was standing just a couple of steps from the point where the bridge collapsed in front of him.

Moments before, he had stopped two heavy goods vehicles from crossing.

The man's colleague had driven to the other side of the bridge to deter motorists and both later helped police by directing traffic away for several hours.

PC Barker died as record downpours devastated large parts of the county with roads closed and hundreds of people forced to flee their homes for higher ground.

The downpour was the highest level of rainfall measured in England since records began, with more than a foot of rain falling in 24 hours.

Mr Barker, who died the day before his 45th birthday, left behind four children aged between 16 and seven.

The inquest is due to last three days.