Young couple die in ‘absolute tragedy’ at festival in New Forest National Park

The deaths of an entrepreneurial husband and wife at a cider festival in the New Forest National Park have been labelled an “absolute tragedy” by a coroner.Christopher and Kayleigh Coll, who were 45 and 38, respectively, were found dead in their white Nissan van after staying overnight at the New Forest Cider Festival.They had been working as stall traders at the October 2025 event, selling small trees made of copper wire.The Colls, who had four children, had succumbed to fatal fumes from a leaky gas heater which should not have been used indoors, area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said.She recorded their cause of death as carbon monoxide poisoning during a hearing at Winchester Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.She also found that the heater was not screwed in tightly to its gas cylinder.The he