A woman who wanted to rid her life of drugs was unable to before they ended up resulting in her death, an inquest has heard.

Tracey Pickup, who was born in Burnley but lived and died in Nelson, died on May 7 of this year having ingested a multitude of drugs including morphine and methadone.

Tracey, 59, had been a long-term drug user but Coroner Laura Fox noted she had the intention to live a life free of drugs and wanted to change.

A statement from the family said Tracey “wasn’t what you would think of a typical heroin user”.

The inquest at Blackburn Town Hall heard how on the evening of May 6 Tracey’s partner, Ronnie, was staying at her house for the night and they had stayed up late watching films together.

Tracey fell asleep on the sofa and at around 7am the next day Ronnie helped her upstairs to bed so she could get some sleep.

At around 11am he made her a cup of tea and left it on her bedside table, thinking she was asleep.

He came back later to find Tracey was still in bed and was not moving, and paramedics who swiftly arrived at the house pronounced her dead a short while later.

Police attended the home at around 5.10pm to find Ronnie and the paramedics in the front bedroom of the house.

PC Lisa Ashworth confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances, and she did not identify any signs of drug use, self-harm, disturbances, or criminality.

Tracey had also suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia, which Ms Fox concluded had played a part in her death.

She concluded the medical cause of death to be multi-drug toxicity.

Offering a narrative conclusion, she said: “COPD and pneumonia had a part to play, weakening her state which may have, together with the drugs, contributed.

“Tracey Pickup died on May 7, 2023, having ingested a fatal quantity of drugs.”