A WOMAN who was living her dream of working on a luxury £6m yacht on the Italian Riviera died after she fell down stairs, an inquest heard.

Rebecca Boyle had just started work in Italy as the only stewardess on a 150ft super-yacht when the tragic accident happened

The 32-year-old had arrived just a a few days before her death, but friends said she had been enjoying the high-life.

The captain said he had warned Ms Boyle about reigning in her heavy drinking, after seeing her with red eyes and clearly hungover.

However, on July 3, Ms Boyle was seen drinking straight vodka with a friend, before she was escorted to bed by concerned friends.

It was only the next day that she was found in an 'unnatural position' with catastrophic injuries in the cabin where she slept.

The main cause of her death, was a serious traumatic injury and fracture of the spine, the inquest at Reading Town Hall heard.

Heidi Connor, senior coroner for Berkshire, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

She said: "This is a particularly sad and tragic death. At around 7.10am on July 4, emergency services reported the presence of a dead body on board La Polonia. A member of the crew said someone fell ill on board.

"Once on board the leisure vessel, a female body was found lying on the ground, belly downwards, wearing a swimsuit. The 118 personnel immediately confirmed her dead. Probable cause of death was circulatory cardiac arrest from a probable fall."

In an interview, the engineer on board La Polonia reported that in the early hours of July 4 crew heard the slamming of doors and a loud thud.

The crew stayed in their rooms, except for the chief engineer, who heard insistent alarm coming from a mobile phone in Ms Boyle's cabin.

He entered the room and discovered her body.

Speaking of the night before, he said: "In my opinion she probably was drunk. Her eyes kept closing, she had difficulty speaking. She had red eyes following a binge."

The captain of La Polonia told the inquest in a statement he had previously warned Ms Boyle not to drink heavily again.

Jonty Brits, who was moored alongside Ms Boyle's boat, was the last person to see her alive and said he had been into a bar on shore with crew members to watch England's World Cup match.

He returned to find Ms Boyle's drinking with a friend.

Mr Brits had invited them aboard his yacht and they had gone to the upper outside deck and spent time in the jacuzzi, before he had accompanied her back to her room.

He told the inquest: "We were going to watch the match at around 6pm with the captain and the cook. Rebecca and a colleague were drinking on the quay. Rebecca said she would come with us at around 9pm but she never came.

"We arrived back on board after the match at 11pm. Rebecca was still drinking on the quay and was clearly drunk. I asked my captain for permission to bring the two people on board our vessel and we went in the jacuzzi.

"Rebecca was very drunk, so I decided to accompany her back to her boat. I accompanied Rebecca and watched her go on board."

A post-mortem examination on her body found Rebecca was in a state of 'psycho-physical alteration' at the time of incident.

A report showed her room had steep steps in it, which divided the room into two levels. Her body was found in an unnatural position in contact with a piece of furniture.

The position of her arm suggested she had been unable to stop the blow to her body and the report concluded: "It is likely that the young woman's reflexes were altered."

Her father, Michael Boyle, from Burghclere, said: "We were informed by the Italian authorities that Rebecca fell on a flight of four or five steps in her cabin and broke her neck.

"Her mother and I both spoke to her on July 2 and she seemed upbeat, enjoying her new job. We had no reason to expect what was shortly to occur."