PENSIONER Barbara Rose Greenwood hanged herself after failing to cope with the death of her husband, an inquest heard.

Mrs Greenwood had twice attempted to commit suicide in the mid 1980s as she struggled to cope with depression and mental health problems.

However, it was following the death of her childhood sweetheart and husband of 50 years that proved the final straw.

Retired police superintendent Clive Greenwood was diagnosed with cancer in October 2002 and died three months later. A diary kept by Mrs Greenwood after her husband's death, included an entry where she expressed her desire to join her husband and meet her maker.

On June 18, the 72-year-old was found by one of her two daughters suspended from the stairs by a dressing gown cord at her home in Greenhill Road, Bury.

At the inquest hearing on Wednesday, Mrs Greenwood's daughter, Mrs Ann Smith, said: Since the death of my father, mum expressed her wish to die, to be reunited with him.

Recording his verdict, Coroner Mr Simon Nelson said Mrs Greenwood death was as a result of a deliberate act of self harm while suffering from a depressive illness.