A PENSIONER was found dead by his cleaner four months after his wife died, an inquest heard.

Bolton Coroners Court was told how retired superintendent registrar Roy Lindley lived alone at his bungalow in Hollowell Lane, Horwich.

His cleaner Jacqui James called at his house on the morning of May 14 for her fortnightly visit, but when she could get no reply, she looked through a bedroom window and saw the 88-year-old lying at the foot of his bed.

Police and paramedics were called and they broke into the property and found Mr Lindley was dead.

The pensioner’s wife had died four months earlier, the inquest heard.

In a statement Mr Lindley’s cousin Dilys Morrison told senior coroner Jennifer Leeming how Mr Lindley worked as a registrar in Bolton after being demobbed from the Royal Navy where he had served as a radio operator during the Second World War.

She described how he later married his wife Kath and they enjoyed rambling together.

“Roy was an extremely private man,” she stated, adding that he will be missed.

Pathologist Dr Anita Merritt said she could find no obvious cause of death, but concluded that Mr Lindley probably died from a cardiac arrhythmia.

A police investigation found no suspicious circumstances.

It is not known how long Mr Lindley had been dead before he was found.

Recording a conclusion that Mr Lindley died from natural causes, Mrs Leeming said: “Mr Lindley had served his community with great distinction and commitment and was very well liked and loved by his staff.”