AN inquest has been opened into the death of a Burnley teacher who has lost her two-month fight for life after collapsing while playing tennis.

Vicki Jayne Taylor, 45, of Wellfield Drive, a languages teacher at Towneley High School, was taken by ambulance to the Royal Blackburn Hospital on August 15 after collapsing during a game on the tennis courts at Clitheroe Cricket Club.

She died on November 3 at Royal Blackburn Hospital at approximately 6.15am.

The inquest heard Mrs Taylor was fed through a tube while in hospital, but died of a heart attack.

She collapsed shortly before 8pm at the club in Chatburn Road, but the exact cause remains a mystery.

A spokesman for Burnley Lawn Tennis Club, where Mrs Taylor had been a member for more than 24 years, said: "She had been a member of the club for a long time and played tennis for Lancashire and was very well known and liked."

Mrs Taylor, formerly of Hapton, also coached tennis at the school. She was married to Iain.

Eight years ago Mrs Taylor, then Vicki Judge, featured in the Lancashire Telegraph after giving birth to a baby girl just four days after winning a tennis tournament.

She won the mixed doubles trophy with playing partner Iain while heavily pregnant with daughter Sarah-Jane.

Coroner for Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, Michael Singleton opened and adjourned the inquest on Wednesday.

The full inquest will be on January 24.