DESPAIR at delays with benefit payments may have led a 33-year-old frustrated job seeker to put an electrical wire noose around his neck.

Deputy Cleveland Coroner Gordon Hetherington said of Nigel Kelly, who was found hanged in a Middlesbrough lodging house: "He had some trouble finding regular employment and that had caused him some frustration."

An inquest in Middlesbrough heard that, shortly before his death, Mr Kelly visited his local benefits office on two consecutive days to sort out delays in payments coming through.

But on the day he was found dead, rent benefit arrived at the house where he was staying in Longford Street, addressed to his landlord.

Returning an open verdict, Mr Hetherington said there was no evidence Mr Kelly had intended to take his own life.

His father said it was more likely that he expected to be found, thinking it would be seen as a protest or a cry for help, possibly as a result of his difficulty obtaining benefits