Part of a heavy stone stack on a church that crumbled and fell onto a passer-by had collapsed nine years previously, an inquest heard yesterday.

A section of a pinnacle on the roof of All Saints' Church, in York, struck 45-year-old Debra Exton on the head after it was blown down in violent storms in January 2002.

A jury in her inquest was told that part of the same pinnacle had fallen to the pavement in the middle of the night during gales in 1993. It had been restored, and appeared to be in "tip-top" condition when it was last checked before Miss Exton's death.

Coroner Donald Cover-dale told the hearing at Folk Hall, York, that Miss Exton, a divorced mother-of-three from Loughborough, Leicestershire, had arrived in York on the afternoon of the accident.

Despite strong winds, she set out to explore the city centre with travelling companion Christopher Bennett and was walking past the church when tragedy struck.

Mr Bennett said in a statement: "We were talking when I heard a thud sound. Because of the loud noise of the wind I didn't think too much about it until I saw Debra wasn't next to me."

Eyewitnesses said they had seen a "large hunk" of masonry fall from the church roof, hitting Miss Exton on the head. She was pronounced dead at York District Hospital.

The then rector of the church, the Reverend David Porter, said a smaller section of the 50-year-old pinnacle had fallen down nine years earlier and had been repaired.

Had anyone been hurt, it was likely the pinnacle would have been removed, he said.

The hearing continues.