A 'SPRIGHTLY' 99-year-old woman, described by her doctor as hyperactive, died after falling down the stairs which she normally negotiated unaided and without any trouble,

An inquest heard that Bridget Yates was looking forward to going out for a walk with her daughter Angela on the day of her death.

And coroner Michael Singleton said she sounded like a remarkable woman who would have gone on to break many records, but for her untimely death.

Mrs Yates, of Ribble Avenue, Darwen, a retired cardroom operative, died as a result of head injuries sustained in the fall.

Angela said the stairs were not a problem for her mother, who got up and down unaided and did so many times a day. On the day of the fall Angela had brought a dress down to be stitched and left it on the side of a chair. She went to make a cup of tea and then heard banging and found her mother lying at the foot of the stairs.

Angela said the dress was on the floor and she assumed that her mother had been taking it upstairs to put away and may have tripped on it.

She told the inquest that Mrs Yates' doctor described her as 'hyperactive' and had suggested she take less sugar and use sweeteners.

"She remembered the war and having to have saccharine and she wasn't keen on that idea," said Angela.

She revealed that on the way to the hospital her mum had been conscious and had said to the paramedic: "I think I am getting soft."

"He said she was anything but," said Angela. "She was very strong and didn't accept old age. When we arrived at hospital the doctor asked if she had been in hospital in the last four or five years. I told him I didn't think she had been in in the last 45 years. She was very lucky in that respect."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Michael Singleton said Mrs Yates sounded like a remarkable lady.

"What a shame she managed to live for 99 years and be fit and healthy only for a small slip to bring about the end," said Mr Singleton. "It seems to me she would have been heading for certain records had she avoided that."