A CORONER has recorded an open verdict at the inquest into the death of a baby boy born in the bathroom of a vicarage.

Vicar's daughter Ruth Percival, 30, gave birth to her son, Jonathan, in the downstairs toilet at her parents' home in Freckleton, near Blackpool, on November 25, 2014.

Ms Percival, who has some special educational needs, had tried to have an abortion but was too far gone and did not tell her father, James Percival, at the time the vicar of Holy Trinity CE Church in the village, or her mother, Susan, that she was pregnant.

The 'family dynamic' in the house was 'particularly unusual', the hearing at Blackpool Town Hall was told.

Mr Percival, 66, who was formerly the vicar at St Stephen's in Little Harwood, told the inquest that he gave mouth-to-mouth to try to revive the baby, but he thought the child was stillborn with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.

No ambulance was called, and he took his daughter for a GP appointment, leaving the body of the child at the vicarage.

It was only later that an ambulance was called and the child was pronounced dead by paramedics.

Medical evidence showed the baby was alive at the time he was born.

Both father and daughter were initially arrested by police on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to conceal the birth of a child.

Later they were questioned on suspicion of child neglect before prosecutors advised police there was insufficient evidence for criminal charges, and to take no further action.

Alan Wilson, HM Coroner for Blackpool and Fylde, ruled out any accidental cause of death or natural causes and said the death was not suspicious.

He said the medical cause of death was unascertained, or simply not known.

But he said he could not rely on the evidence of Mr Percival, who is no longer a vicar, or his daughter.

He said: "I feel unable to place any significant point on the evidence of either Ruth or James Percival.

"There have been various inconsistencies in relation to their accounts which have not been resolved in the course of this investigation."

Earlier, the inquest heard Ruth Percival had visited her GP surgery in August 2014 to arrange to terminate a pregnancy, but had been unable to have one because she was too far gone.

She put her 'head in the sand' about the pregnancy and had not told her parents because she was 'scared' of their reaction.

Ms Percival had complained of back pain the evening before she gave birth and had arranged a doctor's appointment for the afternoon of November 25.

Mr Percival said at about 3.30pm he saw her come out of the bathroom carrying a towel covered with what he believed to be excrement and went outside with her to put the towel in a bin. It was at this point that he spotted the baby's leg.

Mr Percival said he was 'in shock' as he took the baby inside the house and told Ruth to go upstairs and get ready for her doctor's appointment, while he attempted resuscitation and cleaned the downstairs bathroom.

He then took her to the GP's surgery, leaving the baby on the sofa.

Jonathan was not seen by a medical professional until about 5.35pm when Mr Percival let paramedics into the family home at Sunnyside Close.

Concluding the hearing, the coroner returned an open verdict, and added: "The family dynamic in this house was, in my judgment, particularly unusual.

"Ruth was quite a vulnerable person.

"It seems to me she did not feel able to discuss this pregnancy at home and had she done so, and had ante-natal care, then according to the pathologist's evidence it seems more likely than not Jonathan would have gone on to survive delivery."

The baby's father, Brian O'Hanlon, did not attend the hearing, and neither Mr Percival nor his daughter were present.