A TEENAGER collapsed after suffering heart failure in Darwen town centre -- prompting medics to fear he may have choked on his chewing gum.

An inquest into the death of Afnan Khan heard that a piece of gum was found lodged in his throat but that the attack which killed him stemmed from a faulty heart valve.

The inquest was told that Mr Khan 19, of Redearth Road, Darwen, received emergency treatment from passers-by following his collapse in Railway Road.

He had been on his way to meet a friend in Blackburn on the afternoon of July 9.

Paramedics and hospital staff also made strenuous efforts to resuscitate him without success.

The chewing gum recovered from Mr Khan's throat by paramedics had initially been thought to have played some part in his death but pathologist Dr Richard Prescott, said that was not the case.

Recording a verdict of natural causes coroner Michael Singleton said Mr Khan had been accepted for a degree course at Manchester University after studying at Blackburn College.

"He had such a bright future, going on to university and it was, no doubt, a time of great celebration for the family," said Mr Singleton.

"That it should be cut short so tragically must be very distressing."

After Mr Khan's death, his father, Bashir Khan, said his son had just popped out to post a letter for his mother, Parveen, when tragedy struck.

He said he had been diagnosed with a hole in the heart and he had operations on his kidneys when he was toddler.