AN elderly woman died from hypothermia in a council flat piled two feet high with clothing and refuse.

Miss Nora Leigh was discovered dead behind the front door, the only area of flooring in her flat not piled with debris.

A Bolton inquest heard that 87-year-old Miss Leigh had refused help from Bolton Council's social services and housing departments, and lived without power or water and proper sanitation.

Deputy coroner Mr Ronald Myers told the inquest he would have thought Miss Leigh "lived her life behind the front door" if he had not been told that she sometimes stayed with a neighbour.

The horrific scene met police officers who broke into her flat just after Christmas last year.

They had to force entry to the flat in Laburnum Grove, Horwich, when neighbours became concerned about the pensioner. She had died of hypothermia, a pathology report carried out by Dr Roger Farrand, revealed.

Mr Myers heard from social services representative Shirley Rowlandson that after Miss Leigh's death it was discovered she sometimes slept at a neighbour's house.

Mr Myers told the inquest that he could have believed Miss Leigh lived behind her front door "because she could not have found her way into any other room".

Mrs Rowlandson told the inquest that Miss Leigh had written letters to the social services department clearly stating that their involvement would not be welcome.

She was seen by a social worker just days before she was found dead and appeared to have "taken time with her make-up and to style her hair" said Mrs Rowlandson. She said: "If we could have got close to her we would have tried to help her."

Mr Wayne Thomasson, representing the housing department, said he had not been inside Miss Leigh's home before her death but looking at the photographs produced at the inquest admitted he had "never come across anything as bad as this particular case".

Medical reports had revealed Miss Leigh to be mentally well, the coroner was told.

Miss Leigh, the inquest heard, was not a recluse. She was articulate, visited Age Concern and went out with friends.

Mr Myers said Miss Leigh was "an enigma". He said: "This is not simply a case of an old lady found dead behind the door who died of hypothermia because she was cold, because she had no food, no drink or because she never went out."

He recorded a "misadventure" verdict.

After the inquest a council spokesman said: "We tried very actively on many occasions to persuade her to have some help but she said she didn't want help.

"We also warned her of the hazards but she was a very strong-willed woman and refused assistance. "She wanted to run her life in the way she chose and we had to respect her wishes."

A police spokesman said, after the inquest, that Miss Leigh did not have power and water because, following rewiring at the flat, she had refused entry to workmen who were to reconnect her services.

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