A man who was struggling with alcohol addiction was told to keep drinking before going to rehab to stop him suffering from seizures.

James Ormerod, who was known to his family as Jim, was 41 when he died at his home in Varley Street, Colne, on January 14, just a few days before he was set to have an inpatient detox.

An inquest at Accrington Town Hall, attended by his mother, brother and sister, heard how Jim had been struggling with alcohol dependency for some time, having been under the services of Inspire twice.

During his second self-referral, Jim was getting ready to go to a relapse facility.

As a result of his high dependency on alcohol, Jim would have seizures as a symptom of his withdrawal so was told by Inspire to keep drinking at the same level he was before going into rehab.

Deputy manager of Inspire in Pendle, Nicky Major understood family concerns this may sound counter-productive but explained the medical reasons as to why Jim could not suddenly abstain.

She said: “With serious alcohol withdrawal, we would not recommend people to stop.

“The risk of seizures and black out and is quite high with someone who is seriously alcohol dependant like Jim was.”

As Jim had suffered seizures before when abstaining for just a few hours, Inspire deemed it necessary he keep drinking until a rehabilitation facility was available for him.

During his time with Inspire, he had explained he used alcohol as a treatment for his mental health issues.

An issue however with Jim being able to access the mental health services was his alcohol addiction, meaning the service would not properly be able to treat him, however a plan was in place to refer him to mental health services one he had detoxed.

He was receiving medicine from his GP to help with his symptoms of anxiety and depression.

On January 13, Jim had been drinking and just after midnight he asked for some cigarettes and then a glass of milk.

When Jim’s wife woke the following morning, she found Jim’s body and called the emergency services who confirmed he had died.

Mr Taylor said: “He had done irreparable damage to his liver.

"It was a long, long road for him to sort himself out. He had moments he wanted to improve.

“He put himself there and it was a very positive sign but sadly, the damage he had already done didn’t allow him to continue that treatment.”

Mr Taylor said James’ death was alcohol related, recording his causing of death as alcoholic liver disease and alcohol toxicity.

Mr Taylor said: “James Ormerod died on January 14 at his home having consumed an excess of alcohol while suffering from liver disease.”