A MAN who was found hanging by his scarf from railings in Droitwich had been feeling down and bothered about debts for a couple of weeks beforehand, an inquest heard.

Steven Hancocks' body was discovered by workers at Spa Autos in Hanbury Road as they arrived for work at 9.25am on Saturday, November 4.

His girlfriend Debbie, whose surname has not been revealed, told Worcestershire County Coroner's Court in a statement: "Steven had difficulty discussing problems.

"He tried to put things out of his mind and hoped they'd go away. He found it hard to find solutions and I know that he had debts bothering him.

"I believe whatever had been bothering him over the last fortnight took over," she said.

The inquest in Stourport-on-Severn on Tuesday heard how the 23-year-old, of Chestnut Spinney, Droitwich, had been out drinking on the evening of Friday, November 3, with friends and family.

A report from Detective Seargent Tony Stead said Mr Hancocks left the Star and Garter at about 11.15pm and sent a text to Debbie to see if he could go and stay at her house.

"When she told him it was not possible as she was out with friends who would be staying over he took the news rather badly," the report said.

"He left several messages on voice mail, some upset and some crying. It was hard to work out what a lot of them said.

"Between 11.57pm and 12.27am he dialled her number 29 times."

The court heard that Debbie tried calling him back but found the number just rang out.

A statement from Lee Hancocks, Steven's brother, said when Steven left the pub he appeared to be his normal happy self.

He had never said or done anything that suggested he might harm himself.

Worcestershire Coroner Victor Round said Mr Hancocks was twice over the legal drink limit to drive but had not drunk enough to render him incapable of knowing what he was doing.

He added: "People close to him seem to have been taken by surprise and I think it is probably right that something was bothering him."

He said that the cause of death was asphyxia due to ligature suspension and said Mr Hancocks took his own life.