A 24-year-old man's body was so badly decomposed it was not possible to determine the cause of death, an inquest heard.

Neil Green's body had lain undiscovered for six days and his mum Susan told the hearing he had been failed by the system.

She said he had turned to drugs to combat schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as the authorities did not give him the help he needed.

Mrs Green believed her son had taken heroin on the day of his death but, because of the state of his body, toxicology tests could not be carried out.

Recording an open verdict, East Lancashire Coroner Richard Taylor said he could not apportion blame as part of the inquest, but wished Mrs Green luck with a book she was writing about her struggle for help.

Mr Green, of Cleveland Street, Colne, was found dead at home by his mother on June 15 last year, but doctors said he was likely to have died six days before that after being released from prison on June 9.

She told the hearing her son's problems were "ignored" by the NHS and social services, and that he spent much of his adult life in and out of prison.

Mrs Green said she could not manage his behaviour at home, and that he was sent to a variety of B&Bs, bedsits and houses on release from prison and hospital.

She said: "I knew he would die and I knew he had to die because he couldn't get the help. Neil should never have had a criminal record and should never have been sent to prison because he didn't know what he was doing. He ended up in prison so many times because he did things on purpose to be in a safe environment.

"None of us want to see our children in there but there is no place for people with serious mental illness so they are using the prisons instead."

Mrs Green said despite being sectioned and a number of suicide attempts, he had never had a long-term care plan.

After the hearing Mrs Green said although the inquest had left her no clearer about the circum-stances of Neil's death, it would become the final chapter of her book, "Upon Deaf Ears".

She said: "I don't want it to happen to anyone else, but it's going to happen to other people because they are still doing it.

"I'm going to get my book out and they won't ignore me then.

"They wanted to brush me under the carpet, but they are not going to. I won't let them.".