THE body of a 63-year-old woman who fell into the Leeds and Liverpool Canal as she walked home from a friend's house was discovered by a police dog three days later.

An inquest heard that Brenda Dillworth suffered from epilepsy and the coroner said it was likely that a seizure lead to the fall and also hampered her escape from the icy waters.

Mrs Dillworth, of Thwaites Road, Oswaldtwistle, left the home of John Cartwright in Cliff Street, Rishton, at 3.30pm on December 10 to walk home along the canal bank but was not seen alive again.

Mr Cartwright raised the alarm the following day when he could not contact her and a search involving the police and mountain rescue teams was launched.

On December 13 police dog handler Alex Harwood walked the length of the canal between Rishton and Church without success.

As he walked back he noticed an orange carrier bag in the reeds on the opposite bank, about 500 yards from the motorway bridge.

PC Harwood directed his dog to fetch the bag but as the dog swam across the canal it took hold of what at first appeared to be a floating stick.

The officer encouraged his dog to fetch but soon realised that whatever the dog had hold of was far too heavy.

Police divers later recovered Mrs Dillworth's body from the spot.

Her son, Stephen Dillworth, of Thwaites Road, said his mother was a fit woman and thought nothing of walking to Rishton to visit her friend.

He said as a young woman she had won awards for swimming and he would have expected her to be able to get out if she had simply fallen in.

Pathologist William Lawler said he could find nothing to indicate or suggest the involvement of anyone else.

"I think it is possible she could have had fallen into the water and been unable to extricate herself because she was having a seizure," said Dr Lawler.

The medical cause of death was given as drowning and coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of accidental death.