A 77-year-old woman died after accidentally taking an overdose of paracetamol.

An inquest heard that Joan Lofthouse was racked with pain and had previously said that if she died she did not want to be resuscitated.

But her son said she had never indicated that she would take her own life.

"She had stood all the pain very stoically," said Norman Lofthouse, of Bold Street, Accrington.

"Life had become a struggle for her and just two weeks before her death she said that if the end came she wanted to be able to die in peace.

Mr Lofthouse said his mum, who lived in Hereford Road, Blackburn, had previously ended up in hospital after taking too many pain killers.

"She was taking that many tablets she got confused," said Mr Lofthouse.

"The pain was so bad I think she just kept on taking them until she got some relief."

The medical cause of death was given as toxic hepatic necrosis and coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of misadventure.