A YOUNG Leigh man worried about losing his family home after being made redundant hanged himself after first trying to gas himself.

Acting coroner Simon Nelson found Anthony Clegg, 25, of Firs Lane, Leigh had taken in his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed.

Close friend Darren Greensmith, of Masefield Avenue, Leigh discovered Anthony's body kneeling on the settee in his home with black electrical flex around his neck.

He told the Monday inquest: "There was no reply from the front door so I went round the back and the door was unlocked. I went in and saw the oven door was open and there were cushions in-front of the oven. There was no smell of gas.

"I went into the front room and found Anthony kneeling on the settee with a cable on his neck tied to a bannister."

Anthony's mother Kathleen Clegg described her son as "very likeable" and said "he had never been in trouble."

She said Anthony had been made redundant from his job at a local cable factory in September last year after not telling them he was off with flu.

The last time she saw her son he had received a letter from the mortgage company threatening legal action.

"He didn't seem too bothered about it and said he was going to go to the Citizens Advice Bureau," she said. "His dad gave him £20 to keep him going. He could have come to live with us."

The coroner said: "This was a young man who had friends and came from a caring family. It is a tragedy he couldn't be more open about his problems."