Bodies of British couple found in NZ ravine

The bodies of a British couple killed when their rental car plummeted down a ravine in New Zealand could have lain undiscovered for days, police said today.

Police named the couple as Thomas Irving, aged 66, and his wife Renee, aged 65, of St Helens, Merseyside.

A resident spotted the wreckage of the couple’s car near Kaikoura yesterday, lying 165 feet down a steep brush-covered bank and climbed down to find Mr Irving’s body in a creek 30ft from the car.

Mrs Irving’s body was found inside the wrecked vehicle.

Senior Constable Keith Shipston, of Cheviot police, said the cause and time of the crash had yet to be determined. It was possible the bodies had lain undiscovered for three days.

The crash occurred in hilly country about 18 miles south of Kaikoura, a coastal tourism centre 140 miles south east of the capital, Wellington.