AN 81-year-old woman with dementia died within 24 hours of falling out of a care home window, an inquest heard.

Jessie Hall fell through an open lounge window at Longfield Home for the Elderly, in Preston New Road, Blackburn.

A jury decided that Mrs Hall's death was accidental, to which neglect contributed, at 3.30pm on April 16, 2003.

She was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary where she was treated for a broken elbow and broken pelvis.

At 10.30am the next day, with her family around her, Mrs Hall died.

Pathologist Dr Richard Prescott carried out a post mortem examination on Mrs Hall and found her to have bronchial pneumonia in her lungs.

This was the primary cause of death, he told the inquest.

But the jury of 11 people ruled that the fall and neglect on behalf of the care home had contributed towards her death.

Heather Lomas, director of the care home, declined to comment after the verdict.

But Care worker Robert Neilson said during the inquest at Blackburn Town Hall how he saw Mrs Hall's legs dangling out of the window.

He described how he stood on a lower floor window sill to break her fall.

The home, which cares for elderly people who are mentally disabled, has a locked door policy, the inquest heard, which prevents residents leaving and putting themselves in danger.

At the time there were three care staff on duty - Tina Hegarty, Robert Neilson and Michelle Murphy - although none of the staff were in the lounge area, with 16 residents, at the time of the accident.

Mr Neilson told the inquest that, at around lunchtime on April 17 ,he opened a window, approximately 10 to 12 inches, because it was a hot day and that a two-seater settee was covering the window.

Later in the day, at 3.30pm, Mr Neilson was walking in the grounds.

He said: "I noticed Jessie Hall's head was protruding out from the window.

"I told her to put it in. Then I saw her legs dangling out of the window.

"She was hanging out of the window frame with the top of her fingertips.

"I took hold of Jessie's legs and I took hold of some of her weight. Jessie started to kick, we both fell to the ground."

Michelle Murphy, a care assistant, said that at the time of the accident she was walking upstairs from the laundry.

She saw that the settee was in the middle of the room and the window was opened wider than it had been.

At Blackburn Royal Infirmary, Dr James Kirk diagnosed Mrs Hall as suffering from bronchial pneumonia and prescribed her antibiotics.

At 10.30am the following day, Mrs Hall was dead.

Dr Prescott said the fall may have contributed to her dying but added: "The fractures to her pelvis and elbow were not sufficient to cause her death.

"However, it has to be said that those fractures may have contributed in that they would have introduced further stress on her body."