A 90-year-old woman was allowed to return home to die after being taken to hospital.

Lizzie McCrae, a retired shop assistant, had been suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea, and during the early hours of Saturday her temperature soared.

She was taken from her home at Haydock Nursing Home, Pleckgate Road, Blackburn, to the accident and emergency department of the Royal Blackburn Hospital, where an X-Ray showed a shadow on her lung and she was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Her family were informed that she was dying and nothing more could be done for her.

Lizzie was, on the request of her family, returned to the Haydock Nursing Home for care, where she died later that day.

Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.