A "CONSIDERATE" bachelor left a note warning his family to call the police when he hanged himself so his relations would not find him.

A Burnley inquest heard how depressed David Arthur Bainbridge, 54, had pinned the note to the cellar door -- and a police officer later found him suspended over the steps by a dog lead.

Recording a verdict that joiner Mr Bainbridge, of Walton Street, Colne, killed himself while depressed, East Lancs Coroner David Smith said he had been worried about his health and its effect on his family -- but the root of his depression was not known. He added he had been considerate to his relations by leaving the note on the door so they would not have found him dead.

Mr Bainbridge's sister Kathleen Livesey, of Skipton Road, Colne, had earlier told the hearing opening her brother died at his home on June 15.

He had recently been suffering from depression and was having treatment. She had been with him to hospital several times and when he was asked if he had thought about suicide, he had said no. On June 15, she spoke to Mr Bainbridge. He was rushed because he had builders in but there was nothing to lead her to believe anything was wrong. She called several times that afternoon but got no response and at around 6.30pm, went round and let herself in.

Mrs Livesey said she found what she assumed to be a suicide note addressed to her and her husband and a note attached to the cellar door, saying: "Call the police."

PC David France said he opened the cellar door and found Mr Bainbridge hanging by a ligature about four or five steps down. Paramedics estimated he had died four to five hours before. Pathologist Dr Zafar Qureshi, who carried out a post mortem three days later, told the inquest Mr Bainbridge died from hanging.