A 75-YEAR-OLD man from Burnley died after a fall while painting a bedroom ceiling.

The family of James Stanley Cooper, of Hinton Street, told Burnley Coroner's Court how he had overcome bowel cancer and was still a 'fit and active man' despite his age.

But his son-in-law Lawrence Hawkins told an inquest how on June 9 his wife Brenda Cooper rushed to their home, three doors away, to tell them he had suffered a fall.

The court heard that Mr Cooper was initially taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, where it was found he had suffered a broken neck.

He was later transferred to the Royal Preston Hospital for spinal surgery and returned to the Blackburn hospital. However he then developed pneumonia, his condition deteriorated and he died on July 29.

Mr Hawkins said: "He had some health problems but none that affected him in any great way. He was fit and active and had many interests, including his painting. He was also a Burnley season ticket holder and would often go to the games.

"He was a very sprightly 75-year-old man."

Mr Hawkins said the family had raised concerns at the Blackburn hospital, when doctors were preparing to discharge him, as he still appeared to be in pain.

An MRI scan later confirmed a fracture to his neck, the inquest heard, and a decision was later made to move him to Preston for corrective surgery.

Consultant pathologist Dr Abdul Al-Daoud said that due to his immobility, Mr Cooper had developed blood clots in his legs, which had spread to his lungs and was the principal cause of his death.

Dr Al-Daoud said: "There is a policy within the hospital to keep the patients mobile. There is a high chance of getting blood clots if you just sit in the beds. But there is the pain and fracture to consider, which could cause immobility."

Recording an accidental verdict, East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor said the later conditions developed by Mr Cooper had all been a consequence of his original fall from the ladder at home.