AN inquest into the death of a 70-year-old Burnley woman shortly after surgery has been adjourned at the request of her family who are demanding to know more about her final hours.

The sons and husband of Letizia Lombardi want to hear evidence from the nurses responsible for her care when she was returned to the ward after undergoing an operation for a strangled hernia.

The inquest in Blackburn heard that the operation at Burnley general Hospital appeared to have been a success, despite Mrs Lombardi's extensive medical problems, but she died some six hours later.

Mrs Lombardi, of Leyland Road, Burnley, was an asthmatic and also suffered from heart disease, chronic bronchitis, obstructive airways disease, arthritis and obesity.

She was refused hip replacement surgery in 1999 and 2000 because doctors thought surgery was too risky but the hernia condition diagnosed in August was so serious that an emergency operation was the only option.

The inquest was told that the operation had been successful and Mrs Lombardi had made a good initial recovery.

She was transferred to a ward with instructions for nursing staff to monitor her condition hourly.

But solicitor Peter Howarth, representing the family, said they were concerned that during the time Mrs Lombardi was on the ward she did not have her asthma inhaler and questioned whether this could have precipitated her sudden demise.

"The family's concerns are purely in relation to the question of monitoring post-operatively, whether the instructions of the doctor were carried out and whether Mrs Lombardi had access to her inhaler," said Mr Howarth.

"They believe there is other evidence that should have been heard and that can only come from the nursing staff."

Coroner Michael Singleton, adjourning the inquest to a date to be fixed, said the new hearing would only hear evidence from nursing staff and not from the doctors who had already given details of her admission and the subsequent operation.

Pathologist William Lawler had earlier given the cause of death as severe pre-existing natural disease with the operation a contributing factor although not because it had been anything but a complete success.

"We often see people dying within 48 hours of surgery of pre-existing problems," said Dr Lawler.