A 64-YEAR-OLD man who spent the last years of his life living in cars eventually died in one.

An inquest heard that Walter Forrest was found dead in a broken down Sierra that had been parked in his cousin's Clitheroe farmyard for more than three years.

And a police officer told the inquest the car was so full of rubbish Mr Forrest would only have been able to sleep in the driving seat where he was sitting.

Mr Forrest was described as a loner who rarely washed or changed his clothes. His hair was matted.

His sister, Violet Slater, said she had not seen him for 16 years. She told how he had been born in Whalley and lived in Barrow before working on farms.

She said he had been thrown out of his council house because of rent arrears and lived in a tent for two years.

He saved his unemployment benefit and eventually bought a car which he started to live in.

"He never made conversation, he was in his own little world," she said.

His cousin, Katherine Crook, of Horrocks Fold Old Hall Farm, West Bradford Road, said Mr Forrest had lived in about four cars.

When they were running he would "come and go" but the last one had broken down a number of years ago and she had towed it into her farm yard.

PC Garry Danson told the inquest he had got to know Mr Forrest during his seven years stationed in Clitheroe and told how he used to live in his cars parked in lay-bys.

When PC Danson was called to the farm he found Mr Forrest dead in the front seat. He said there were two gas cookers and food in the front of the car and the rest was filled with rubbish.

"The only room in the car was where he was sat," said PC Danson. A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Forrest died of broncho-pneumonia due to chronic obstructive airways disease with malnutrition a contributory factor. Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of natural causes.