THE sister of a 32-year-old Nelson woman who was found dead at her home this week had tried to take her own life 'quite a few times, ' her sister told an inquest.

Unemployed Tracy Riding, of Malvern Court, was found dead on her kitchen floor at around 5.45pm on Monday by her brother, Paul Riding.

The last person to see her alive was her sister, Janette Brierley, at 3.30pm and she had arranged to take some shopping round to Miss Riding the following day.

Mrs Brierley told East Lancashire coroner David Smith that her sister had been her normal self during the hour she had spent with her but said: "She has been depressed most of her life and had schizophrenia. She had tried to end her life quite a number of times in the past."

She said the last time was two years ago when she had taken an overdose but she had also tried to cut herself and taken drugs overdoses on other occasions.

She added: "She always made sure someone found her. She was actually at my house when she told me she had done it last time."

Mrs Brierley told the coroner that her brother had visited her sister and found the front door open. He had shouted for her but when he received no reply he searched the house, looking in the bedroom and bathroom before finding her in the kitchen.

Miss Riding had lived alone in Malvern Court for the last year and had previously lived with her sister.

The coroner heard how Miss Riding had married a man in Germany seven or eight years ago but that she never used his name. Mrs Brierley described the relationship as 'a phony marriage'.

The inquest was adjourned for toxicology tests.