AN elderly couple whose bodies were found frozen near a farm in Aston, Runcorn, had become stranded in severe winter weather an inquest heard.

Derek and Nancy Hornby, of Knights Meadow, in Winsford, were discovered at the bottom of a steep bridleway, close to Pear Tree Farm on Friday, December 10, 2010.

Nancy, 86, was found by a walker outside the couple’s car, which had lost all power and was drained of petrol.

Her husband Derek was discovered in a field, some 200 metres away. He had cuts to his hands caused by climbing over a barbed wire fence.

It is thought the pair, who celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in 2009, had got lost while trying to find a restaurant they had booked into for a free Christmas lunch.

D.I. Peter Lawless, of Cheshire Police, said: “This is a really tragic event, one of the most tragic that I have ever been to myself.

“During that week in December the weather was particularly atrocious.

“Knowing the area there is a mist that rises above the road which makes it extremely dark.

“If Mr Hornby had become a little disorientated he could have easily took the wrong turn which leads into a very narrow track and down a steep climb.

“It seems Mr Hornby had made the decision to go and get help. He had headed across the fields because it is flat and easier than trying to go back up the steep hill. It looks as though he may well have run the engine until the petrol ran out.”

The inquest heard how the couple were last seen on Wednesday, December 8 at a petrol station in Frodsham.

Mr Hornby had filled his tank with £20 worth of petrol but, shortly after paying, had walked back into the garage shop claiming he had lost his wife.

The shop assistant found Mrs Hornby in the petrol forecourt where she chatted to the pair and sent them on their way.

The inquest heard how shortly before the incident at the petrol station Sgt Mark Tate, of the Frodsham Neighbourhood Policing Team, signalled to Mr Hornby to pull over on the Kingsley road, heading into Frodsham.

He said he had been alerted to his car which was travelling at around 20mph and swerving towards the curb.

However, Mr Hornby explained he had been driving below the speed limit because of the severe weather and after a light hearted conversation with the Sgt Tate, the couple were free to go.

Derek, a retired post master had served in the Royal Navy during the war. After marrying Nancy the couple emigrated to Zimbabwe where two of their four children were born.

The pair ran the post office in Lostock for a number of years before retiring in their late 60s.

They moved to Winsford in the 1980s and regularly attended the Dingle Centre in their later years.

Nancy suffered from a mixed type of dementia and was cared for by her husband Derek, who had no major health problems.

Recording a verdict of hypothermia, Dr Janet Napier, deputy coroner for Cheshire said: “Mr Hornby was a gentlemen.

“He wanted to look after his wife and do everything himself and was in fact doing very well.

“They always wanted to be together. Obviously dementia was a major problem but they weren’t doing too bad.

“Nobody had any inclination that this awful thing was going to happen.”