A SIMPLE bang on the head had tragic consequences for a Clitheroe woman.

Pamela McGuire died several days after her fall at home.

An inquest heard that her husband contacted the NHS helpline and a GP's surgery after his wife nicked her ear in the fall. She slept that night, but the following day he was unable to wake her.

A hearing at Preston was told that she died from bleeding to the head and many such cases had occurred where someone went on to die after banging their head.

Mrs McGuire, 47, of Chapel Close, Clitheroe, had gone into the kitchen before her husband Paul heard a clatter. She was sitting on the floor.

Mr McGuire told the hearing "I saw a nick on the top of her ear. She said she needed to go to bed.

"There wasn't swelling or bruising, though it was bleeding". He thought they should call a doctor out to have a look at the ear. He rang the NHS Helpline and rang a GP.

One piece of advice was to take her to hospital.

Another was that if she appeared OK and was comfortable, to take her in next morning, keeping an eye on her in the mean time.

Mr McGuire said his wife had fallen and banged her head before and she seemed sound asleep that night.

She had not wanted to go to hospital.

Pathologist Dr Tim Dawson said there had been many cases where someone banged their head in a fall, the injuries initially did not look very serious but then a gradual decline followed.

"The injury need not be particularly severe, though it is usually a moving head injury, though not necessarily with significant force.

"It may appear to be a relatively minor injury. There are many cases like this."

He added that the outcome possibly could have been the same, even if Mrs McGuire had been taken to hospital in the first place.

Coroner Howard McCann recorded an accidental death verdict.