A man whose wife died in a cliff fall was sleeping with a work colleague, an inquest heard.

Paul Ramsden, 38, told police he declared his love for wife Paula minutes before she fell 500ft to her death from Beachy Head while they were out walking.

But the inquest at Eastbourne heard from Elizabeth Harrison that she and Mr Ramsden had started an affair two months before Paula died.

She said they had also slept together afterwards.

Ms Harrison, 30, from Horsham, admitted the pair had sex but denied knowing exactly what had happened to Paula, who was scared of heights, at Beachy Head.

The inquest heard Mr Ramsden, an operations superintendent for Shell at Gatwick, bombarded another work colleague, Michelle Foster, with hundreds of emails telling her he loved her.

Mr Ramsden, of Crawley Down, near Crawley, claimed his wife Paula, 32, who had a daughter with him and a son by a previous relationship, had accidentally slipped from the cliff edge in January 9, 2000, as he went to kiss her.

He was later arrested by police on suspicion of murder but released without charge.

The inquest earlier heard from Paula's sister, Mandy Cottle, who suspected Mr Ramsden was having an affair.

Mr Ramsden became friends with Ms Harrison when she worked in a neighbouring office, the inquest heard.

The pair went out for drinks before meeting for the night at a bed-and-breakfast in the New Forest in December 1999.

When asked by East Sussex Coroner Alan Craze if the relationship was intimate, Ms Harrison said it was not.

But she admitted to having an affair with Mr Ramsden. Mr Craze said: "By now this was a serious affair." She replied: "Yes."

Shortly after Paula's death, Ms Harrison met Mr Ramsden and the pair went for a drink.

Ms Harrison said he did not want to discuss with her what had happened to Paula but said she and Mr Ramsden had sex in the weeks that followed.

Mr Craze said: "You were his mistress yet he did not discuss with you what happened at Beachy Head?"

Ms Harrison said: "Not really. He said they went up there walking and said he looked around and she was not there."

Mr Ramsden dialled 999 after Paula had fallen from the cliff. Her body was recovered by Coastguards.

Mr Ramsden told police he had wanted it to be a special day for the two of them, and how they were "very happy".

He said they had gone up there to "talk" to his father, who died two years ago of cancer, and to Paula's brother Mark, killed in 1999 in a motorbike crash.

He said the pair sat a few feet from the cliff edge and that she went for a walk. Seconds later, he said, he heard a scream and she was gone.

The police asked Mr Ramsden if Paula could have committed suicide.

He replied: "No chance. We were so in love."

But the inquest heard how PC Alan Tyrell was suspicious. He said in a statement: "His behaviour struck me as odd. He was upset but was not crying. He was giving lucid answers to my questions but would then say, 'No, not my Paula'."

In a police interview, Mr Ramsden told how he stood to gain £200,000 from what he termed "a drop down dead life insurance policy" on Paula's life.

He claimed he would receive the money if she died and his children would receive the money if both he and his wife died.

But Mr Craze said the money from Paula's life policy would go into trust for the children and not Mr Ramsden.

The inquest was adjourned until Monday.