AN 88-year-old Clitheroe woman who banged her head after collapsing at home died three days later, an inquest heard.

The hearing was told that Mary Purnell was rushed to hospital after being found in a pool of blood in her sheltered flat.

She had raised the alarm by banging on a neighbours wall because she couldn't get up to pull the emergency cord.

Mrs Purnell, of Abbeyfield House, Castle View, was released from hospital that night after X-rays revealed there were no fractures to her skull.

But she was re-admitted the following morning when a scan revealed a brain haemorrhage.

Margaret Snowdon, house manager at Castle View, let herself into Mrs Purnell's flat after a neighbour reported the banging on the wall. She said Mrs Purnell had stood up quickly from her chair and had collapsed.

She said she was surprised Mrs Purnell had been sent home from hospital in the middle of the night.

"At her age I thought they would have kept her in for overnight observation," said Mrs Snowdon.

The medical cause of death was given as brain haemorrhage as a result of a head injury and coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of accidental death.