AN 84-year-old woman was found dead at the bottom of the stairs at her home in Stourport-on-Severn.

Winifred Prottery's feet were spotted on the bottom steps by cleaner Pauline Morris on her regular Friday visit.

Ms Prottery's grandson, David Prottery, had been asleep upstairs at the house in Cherry Tree Walk, Stourport, when the incident happened.

But as he was a heavy sleeper and worked nights he had not heard anything, the inquest heard.

Paramedics tried, in vain, to revive Ms Prottery following the discovery of her body at 4.30pm on Friday, August 8.

Pathologist Louise Brown said death had been caused by a "hinge fracture" at the base of the skull.

Giving evidence at yesterday's inquest, Ms Prottery's daughter Maureen Rose, who lived with her mother in Stourport, said her mother had had falls in the past.

Home care assistant Jennifer Smith told the inquest she did not think Ms Prottery was "really that unsteady".

She added that on one occasion there had been "severe bruising" on the elderly lady's wrists and felt she was not being "told the full story".

Although the injuries were consistent with a fall, coroner Victor Round said there was not enough evidence to prove this, and recorded an open verdict.