RETIRED maintenance worker Billy Yates died of multi organ failure following surgery.

An inquest heard that doctors at Blackburn Royal Infirmary had declined to operate on several occasions because of Mr Yates' previous history of heart disease. But eventually an operation to remove his prostate was unavoidable.

Mr Yates, 76, of Victoria Street, Clitheroe, appeared to be recovering from the operation, but complications set in and he eventually died on February 26 after doctors, his wife Sheila, and the couple's two daughters had agreed it would not be appropriate to resuscitate if he had a cardiac arrest.