A HEARTBROKEN mum was found dead at her home - less than a year after her son killed himself.

Carol Pickup, 58, was discovered at her house in Cromer Grove, Burnley, when police smashed their way in after a concerned friend raised the alarm.

East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor has now opened and adjourned an inquest into Mrs Pickup’s death, while a pathologist from Burnley General Hospital carries out further tests.

The tragedy comes just eight months after her son, Darren, 36, was found hanging from a bridge in Widow’s Hill Road, Burnley.

An inquest held last month into his death concluded he had taken his own life “after things had got on top of him”.

Burnley Coroner’s Court also heard that the shift worker, of Cleaver Street, had attempted suicide before and had recently lost his job.

At the hearing - held just six weeks ago - an emotional Mrs Pickup revealed she had heard of her son’s death through a radio news report, although it did not name him.

She told the court of her struggle to come to terms with Mr Pickup’s suicide, which came more than a decade after the death of her daughter.

She said: “I just cannot cope with it. I also lost my daughter 12 years ago and I cannot take it anymore.”

A full inquest, likely to be next year, will now look into Mrs Pickup’s death on October 7.

A North West Ambulance Service spokeswoman said that paramedics were called by police officers because of a “concern for welfare” of Mrs Pickup.

Police forced entry but found Mrs Pickup already dead inside.

A Lancashire police spokeswoman confirmed officers had been called to the address by a concerned friend and said the case had been passed to the coroner.