A 62-year-old Blackburn man killed himself with an overdose of prescribed medication, an inquest was told.

An inquest heard that John Joseph Varey, who was already on anti-depressants, may have been affected by "allegations" that were being made against him.

The nature of the allegations were not specified at the inquest but coroner Michael Singleton said they may have influenced his state of mind.

Mr Varey, of Stonyhurst Road, had returned from a short break in Appleby just before his death and his partner, Barbara Place, said he seemed fine on his return. She had told him of the allegations being made against him and he was concerned about them.

The day before his death Miss Place left Mr Varey's home about 2pm.

"I told him he needed to sort the problem out and he agreed," she said.

The following day, July 17, she went round to his flat at about 10.30am and found him on the couch cold and unresponsive.

Dr Richard Prescott, who carried out a post-mortem examination, said the level of Dothiepin in Mr Varey's blood was more than double what would be regarded as a fatal dose and there was also Tramadol present. Mr Singleton recorded a verdict that Mr Varey killed himself.