A 66-year-old car mechanic grieving over the death of his beloved partner hanged himself just days after she died, an inquest heard.

Christopher Pocock, from Stafford Road, Wallington was devastated when Pamela, his partner of 43 years, died on December 14.

Croydon Coroner’s Court heard he had been drinking heavily since her death, and on December 18 called his sister Valerie Evans to apologise for something he was about to do.

Dr Roy Palmer, the coroner, said he told her: “I am sorry for the problems I am going to cause you,” before hanging up the phone and not answering her subsequent calls.

She immediately alerted the police, who had some trouble getting to his home in Wallington because of the deep snow drifts.

By the time they got to the mechanic’s home, climbing over a 6ft garden wall to get into the house, Mr Pocock had hanged himself in the conservatory.

Dr Palmer said: “He could no longer bear the thought of life without Pamela and decided that life was no longer worth living.”

When he died Mr Pocock was 4.5 times over the drink driving limit and the court heard he had been “hitting the bottle” since the death of his partner.

Despite the “very high” level of alcohol in his blood, Dr Palmer said he was satisfied that Mr Pocock meant to take his own life.

He ruled the 66-year-old killed himself.