A DEVOTED North-East husband and wife were found dead with plastic bags over their heads in an apparent suicide pact.

Retired hospital consultant George Purvis, 88, is believed to have been depressed after his wife Barbara, 83, was diagnosed with cancer.

The couple were discovered by police who broke into their £275,000 home in Sunderland. The deaths are not being treated as suspicious.

Neighbours raised the alarm after they had not been seen for some days.

Police broke into the house and found Mrs Purvis in a first-floor bedroom and her husband downstairs.

Both are believed to have suffocated with plastic bags over their heads.

The elderly couple, of Roker Park Road, were often seen out together.

But neighbours said Dr Purvis, a retired anaesthetist, who used to work at Sunderland Royal Hospital, had become depressed after his wife contracted cancer a few years ago.

Neighbour, Ralph Higgs, said: "They were a lovely old couple. We're very shocked by the news of their deaths."

Another neighbour added: "Dr Purvis had been quite depressed ever since his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

"She'd been quite ill and he had looked after her for a long time by himself. I think things were quite hard for them, but they wouldn't ask for any help.

"We were shocked when we heard what had happened. They must have got to the point where they felt they couldn't go on any longer and decided to end it all. But they obviously couldn't bear to be parted, even right at the end."

Mr and Mrs Purvis are believed to have left two sons and a daughter, who live in the US.