A Gatwick-based airline pilot died when he fell 35ft from the balcony of a flat in Hove.

Gordon McMillan, a 36-year-old first officer with the airline JMC, had been out with friends for the evening.

They returned to his flat in The Drive, Hove, in the early hours of Saturday.

It is understood he walked through the kitchen on to the balcony and toppled over the edge.

His friends, devastated by the death, gave statements to police.

There were no suspicious circumstances. An inquest will be held.

Mr McMillan, who was single and lived at the flat with a friend, was formerly a pilot with the Royal Navy.

A spokesman for JMC today said: "He had been flying with us for two-and-a-half years and worked on A320 Airbuses out of Gatwick.

"He was extremely well liked and highly thought of by colleagues and senior managers.

"He was a good all-round employee and will be sadly missed."

A 20-year-old man plunged over a cliff to his death.

A man walking home after work discovered the body on the Undercliff Walk, opposite Saltdean Lido, Brighton, just after 5am yesterday.

The fall victim was later named as Lee Harmsworth, of Wivelsfield Road, Saltdean.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and an inquest will be held.