A MAN who shot himself in the head to avoid an agonising death showed determination until the end, his family said.

Geoff Hardisty, 73, of Manchester Road, Barnoldswick, was found dead in his cellar on December 14 last year, an inquest heard yesterday at Burnley.

Mr Hardisty had overcome complete blindness since the age of 17 to become a successful engineer, but since he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, a degenerative condition, eight months before his death, he had regularly told friends and family that he intended to take his own life.

Mr Hardisty's niece Lindsay Hitchon said: "The ligature round his neck and the firearm show determination in the extreme and you have got to admire the guts of someone who could do that."

East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor recorded a verdict of suicide.