A FORMER miner died of head injuries after falling down the stairs at his Halliwell home.

An inquest into the death of Philip Joseph, aged 79, was previously adjourned by Acting Coroner Simon Nelson in a bid to establish whether there had been "any third party involvement".

Reopening the inquest yesterday, Mr Nelson said police had continued with their inquiries and he was now satisfied there were no suspicious circumstances.

Mr Joseph's body was found at the bottom of the stairs at his home in Kingsdown Gardens in January.

The inquest was told Mr Joseph, a divorcee originally from the island of Dominica in the Caribbean, had worked for many years as a miner at Mossley Common Pit.

During his time as a miner Mr Joseph has suffered a fractured spine which left him with a bad back.

Ada Davis, of Barsham Drive, Bolton, his friend for 30 years, said Mr Joseph also had heart problems but refused to see a doctor.

Mrs Williams said she used to see Mr Joseph daily and, on the day of his death, she had gone round to have lunch with him.

During the meal, Mr Joseph had two glasses of home brew wine and later began to complain of not feeling well.

Mrs Williams returned home and phoned Mr Joseph, who had a cordless phone, he told her he was going upstairs to bed and then she heard a sigh and a bump and nothing more.

She called the police who went to his home and found him with blood coming from his head. A post-mortem examination revealed he had suffered a fractured skull and the level of alcohol in his body was four times the legal limit for driving.

Mr Nelson concluded that Mr Joseph died as the result of an accidental fall downstairs.