THE reasons why a policeman's wife killed herself will never be known, an inquest heard.

Tracy Anne Royle, 31, was found by her husband suspended by a quilt cover from a bannister rail in the hallway of their home in Rhodes Avenue, Blackburn.

The couple's two children Eleanor, two, and Benjamin, one, were asleep upstairs.

Her husband PC Paul Royle told how he returned from a night shift on May 3 this year to find his wife's body.

PC Royle cut her down and contacted the emergency services. He said he could not think of any reason why Tracy would have wanted to hurt herself.

He said she was tired after spending time with their son Benjamin at hospital after he had been diagnosed with meningitis in March.

Her sleep had been severely affected but that Benjamin was recovering slowly.

He said she had not confided problems to any friends and that she had just been promoted in her work as a research and policy officer with Blackburn with Darwen Council ahead of schedule.

He said: "She was the type of person who would bottle things up rather than discuss them."

Coroner Michael Singleton said that clearly Benjamin's illness had been a cause of considerable concern for the couple.

He said Dr William Lawler, a forensic pathologist, conducted the post mortem examination on May 7 .

He gave the cause of death as hanging and said there was nothing to suggest an involvement with any other person with the death.

Mr Singleton said: "It is clear that there are no other persons involved. The only conclusion is that Tracy Anne Royle intended to take her own life. It is difficult to conceive of a more tragic set of circumstances."