AN elderly man died of a brain haemorrhage just over a week after two falls while staying in hospital, an inquest heard yesterday.

Retired engineering labourer Thomas William Storey, of Attlee Estate, Tow Law, County Durham, died at Bishop Auckland General Hospital on March 6.

Nurses from ward five, where Mr Storey was being treated for a foot complaint, recalled how he had fallen over twice on February 27.

Staff nurse Catherine Anne Robson said Mr Storey had managed to walk across the room, while she was visiting other patients, but had fallen before reaching a nurses' station.

The 78-year-old, whose wife, Eva, had died two years earlier, was treated for a cut to his head and given a check by a doctor.

Consultant pathologist Dr Clive Bloxom found the cause of death to be a subdural haemorrhage, a clot probably due to a recent fall, and heart disease was a secondary factor.

South Durham Coroner Colin Penna, sitting at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court, recorded a verdict of accidental death