MYSTERY still surrounds the death of retired baker John Makin who was found dead in his Belmont home five days after he was last seen by neighbours.

An open verdict was recorded after an inquest heard a post mortem examination could not ascertain the medical cause of death, partly because the body had started to decompose by the time it was discovered.

Mr Makin, 60, of High Street, Belmont, was found in his bedroom of his home after police, alerted by worried neighbours, forced entry.

He was partly clothed and had a shoe in his hand, suggesting he was getting dressed at the time of his death.

The post mortem examination showed a moderate level of alcohol and normal levels of medication he was prescribed for depression but there was nothing to which the pathologist could attribute death.

Next door neighbour Fiona Haslam said Mr Makin had become more depressed over the final year of his life. He had gone from being a chatty, sociable man to being withdrawn.

Another neighbour, Arthur Dwyer, said he had known Mr Makin for 28 years since he moved to the village with his parents. Mr Makin had been deeply depressed by the death of his mother and he did not believe he had ever fully recovered.

Friend and financial adviser Christine Salmon told the inquest that Mr Makin's moods were changeable and he had confided in her that he had once considered trying to commit suicide but his courage had failed him.

Deputy coroner Carolyn Singleton recorded an open verdict saying that because of decomposition, the pathologist was unable to say with certainty whether the death was drugs related.

"I cannot be sure he intended to take his own life and just six days before his death Mr Makin had seemed reasonably cheerful," she said.