Cause Of Tory Aide's Glasto Death Unknown

A pathologist has been unable to establish how a senior Conservative died, after his body was found in a VIP toilet at the Glastonbury Festival.

Christopher Shale, 56, was discovered by officers shortly after 9am on Sunday.

A post-mortem has been carried out but the cause of his death was "unascertained pending histology and toxicology reports".

The coroner said there was no evidence of foul play and has released Mr Shale's body to his family for burial.

The successful businessman was a close friend of the Prime Minister.

The married father-of-three was chairman of West Oxfordshire Conservative Association and helped run Mr Cameron's Witney constituency office.

Festival chief Michael Eavis initially said he had been told the death was a "suicide situation" but a police source later said it was not thought Mr Shale had killed himself.

Sources had suggested he may have suffered a heart attack.

A police spokesman said: "The results of the post-mortem combined with the inquiries conducted into the circumstances surrounding the death indicate it is not suspicious.

"Therefore Avon and Somerset Police are not treating the death as suspicious."

Mr Cameron said he and wife Samantha were "devastated" by the news.

"He was a great friend and has been a huge support over the last decade in west Oxfordshire," he said. "A big rock in my life has suddenly been rolled away."

Councillor Barry Norton, the Conservative leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, dismissed suggestions that Mr Shale might have killed himself as "scurrilous" and said his death was a "terrible shock".

He added there was a history of heart problems in Mr Shale's family and described him as "highly respected".

"He was a rock for everybody - somebody you could rely on," Mr Norton said.

A distraught woman, staying in the backstage area between the Pyramid and Other stages, was seen being comforted by officers after Mr Shale was found.

A police cordon, guarded by at least eight officers, was put up around the backstage shower and toilet area.

The camping area where festival production teams and some performers stay was also blocked off.

Mr Shale was believed to be staying in a Winnebago next to Times columnist Caitlin Moran, who tweeted: "Woke up to find the man in the Winnebago next to us died. Bit of a grime (sic) start to the morning."

A host of celebrities were staying within the cordoned off area. Wayne and Coleen Rooney were understood to have been camping in a nearby luxury RV.

On the day of Mr Shale's death, a soul-searching report he wrote on the difficulty of attracting new members to the Conservative Party appeared in a Sunday tabloid.

In the document, Mr Shale wrote that at present there is "no reason to join. Lots of reasons not to". He also criticised the Conservative Association's fundraising efforts.

Most revellers at Glastonbury carried on partying unaware, and more than 50,000 fans turned out to watch singer Beyonce draw proceedings to a close on Sunday night.