POLICE and relatives found the decomposed body of a 55-year-old man lying on the floor of his Atherton home.

Geoffrey Michael McGrath, of Alder House Cottages, had not been seen for a month before the gruesome midsummer discovery, an inquest at Leigh heard.

In a statement, Mr McGrath's sister Irene Waywell, of Schofield Street, Leigh said her brother had been born in Atherton.

He married and moved to Chard, Somerset, before returning to the Atherton area over 20 years ago.

Described as a heavy smoker and drinker who liked to brew his own beer, Mr McGrath enjoyed playing pool in his local.

But relatives had said he would often only drink one pint at the pub before going home to drink his home brew.

Another sister Joan Kendall of Nelson Street, Atherton said they kept in touch and usually saw each other every fortnight.

But when they called to visit his home in May and then in June they got no reply.

Inquiries at his local pub revealed he had not been seen there so the family contacted the police who forced their way in to Mr McGrath's home and found him lying dead on the floor near a sofa.

PC Simon Kiernan giving evidence said: "The house was extremely hot with electric heaters on in different rooms, the lights switched on and the curtains drawn."

The constable said he noticed a lot of bottles on the house, some labelled, some unlabelled and mostly empty which Mr McGrath had apparently collected for home-brew purposes.

Statements showed Mr McGrath had last used his bank card on May 19, 30 days before his body was discovered. Pathologist Dr Stephen Mills' report stated: "Because of the amount of decomposition it was impossible to discover the cause of death."

But he added there was no evidence of any unnatural cause.

Coroner Mr Aidan Cotter recorded a verdict of "death from natural causes" although he said due to decomposition the precise natural cause could not be ascertained.