A DOCTOR has warned about the dangers of painkilling drugs following woman's death.

Nicola Thompson, aged 23, of Mellor Grove, Bolton, died after taking two different sorts of tablets following a minor argument with her boyfriend.

An inquest was told that Miss Thompson was found dead at her home by Neil Watts, her boyfriend of two years, after over-reacting to the row, but did not mean to take her own life.

Consultant pathologist Dr David Bisset said people were unaware of the dangers of over-the-counter and prescription painkilling drugs.

Miss Thompson had taken temazepam and a tablet containing a mixture of paracetamol and propoxyphene.

Dr Bisset said: "These drugs are widely available for pain relief. They are more dangerous than people think, even though they are widely used. This may have been the case for Nicola."

Dr Bisset said Miss Thompson, a clerical officer, had taken several times the recommended dosage.

She had been drinking at the Arkwright pub, Valletts Lane, Bolton, on February 9 with Mr Watts and some friends and, following a row with him, stormed out of a friend's house and went home.

After two days of her not answering phone calls or calls at her house, Mr Watts got into the house on February 11 and found her dead in bed. Coroner Jennifer Leeming recorded an open verdict.

with her friend Jamie Sewart, and her boyfriend and his friends on February 9. She had gone back to Miss Sewart's house and had expected the men to follow them.

They only returned a few hours later and there was a trivial argument between Miss Thompson and boyfriend after which she stormed out.

In a statement, Miss Sewart, who had been Nicola's best friend for six years, said: "I don't understand why she's done this, it was such a trivial argument."

Her father Joseph Thompson described her as "bubbly and very out-going" but with a short fuse after she had a drink.

On recording an open verdict, Coroner Jennifer Leeming said: "It seems to me, at the time Nicola took the tablets, she had a lot to drink, she'd had a trivial argument, which her volatile nature caused her to over-react and what happened was a continuation of her over-reaction. She was demonstrating she felt upset."