A CLEANER who laughed off a bruised backside after an "every day" fall at work was found dead a week later from her seemingly innocuous injury.

Unknown to Catherine Barcroft, 42, the accidental slip had caused internal bleeding, which a damaged liver was unable to prevent.

She went to work for the next two days after the fall before complaining of feeling unwell and was found dead by her shocked fiance at their home in Barlows Buildings, Rawtenstall a week later.

Her devastated family have paid tribute to the vibrant mum and are struggling to come to terms with the manner of Catherine's death.

Fiance Ronald Coit had been going out with Catherine for two-and-a-half years. They had been engaged 18 months and were planning their future together.

He wept as he said: "She was full of life and died tragically at 42. You would not have expected it to cause her death. You don't go to work and expect to find someone dead on your return."

An inquest at Burnley Magistrates Court yesterday heard how the bizarre accident on Thursday, February 24, happened.

Catherine had just finished polishing the dancefloor of the Rhythm Station nightclub, Rawtenstall, where she worked, when she spotted a piece of glass on the floor and went to retrieve it.

But though she slipped on the shiny floor and landed on her bottom, she laughed off the incident and told colleagues she was not badly hurt.

Mr Coit said it had snowed that day and ironically Catherine had been worried about slipping over so he escorted her to work.

The printer said: "When she came back she said 'it was funny as I slipped at work when I was worried about slipping in the snow.'"

She went back to work the following two days.

Mr Coit said: "It was not until Tuesday that she really started to complain. The bruises, from being ordinary, seemed to take over and went very dark in colour. They were the colour of an aubergine."

Her family tried to persuade her to go to a doctor but because of the position of the bruise she was too embarrassed.

On the Wednesday she stayed off sick from work and Mr Coit left her sleeping on the floor to go to work.

When he got no reply from phone calls to check on her he rushed home to find her still on the floor. He called an ambulance but she could not be revived.

Mr Coit added that he knew Catherine had liver problems but did not connect it to the bruise.

Pathologist Dr Wallid Salman said Catherine suffered from cirrhosis of the liver but the cause of death was severe injuries to the left buttock and pelvis.

He added: "The liver cirrhosis has played a significant part in her demise. The fall produced soft tissue damage and bleeding. Damage to the liver meant the capacity of the body to stop the bleeding was diminished."

He told her family that if she had visited a doctor it could have been possible to stem the blood loss and possibly save her life.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Richard Taylor said: "Tragically in this case she was badly injured internally and a terribly damaged liver could not assist."

Catherine is the daughter of former JP Clifford Barcroft, of Moat House, who is a company director and well known in Rossendale for his work with football and cricket teams.

Her mum Mary Barcroft said: "She was always smiling. She never really complained about anything. You have to get on with life but it's hard and when they are like that as you feel one day they will walk through the door and you have not really lost them. It doesn't seem real."

Catherine also leaves her son Adrian Taylor, 20, from a previous relationship, sisters Veronica Halt and Shirley Cropper and granddaughter Rebecca Barcroft.