A talented lawyer who tragically hanged herself after years of anxiety left notes saying she was ‘sorry for the mess’ and asking someone to feed her cat, an inquest heard.

Laura Wilkin pinned an envelope to her front and back door apologising to her friends and neighbours and warning them not to come in, before killing herself in her Frodsham home.

The 57-year-old, who had suffered from work-related anxiety for years, left a number of notes explaining her financial details, next of kin and even left out a pre-cooked chicken defrosting with a note saying ‘for Peter the cat’.

Miss Wilkin, who was described as a ‘fantastic lawyer’ and caring by her friends and colleagues, left three identical notes in her pristine house saying she was sorry to have ‘let down’ all the people who had been ‘so kind to her’ over the years – and bagged up library books with instructions for them to be returned on a particular date.

The lawyer, who had not worked for a number of years due to anxiety and had suffered from skin cancer, was found hanged in her cottage in Watery Lane after her close friend and neighbour saw the note and rang the police on September 17, 2014.

“I do not really think she expected me to be the person to discover the note,” said Margery Barlow, who explained her friend had been concerned about the effects of the e-cigarettes she was using to try to quit smoking after having an allergic reaction to them, and was worried about meeting the cost of expensive dental work.

A distressed colleague explained Miss Wilkin was extremely anxious about work and her finances, as she was scared of the payments from the firm’s health insurance stopping, but she had repeatedly tried to reassure her that her finances were secure.

Her sister Jayne, who said she hadn't seen her sibling for three years, said that she had tried to protect and help her sister but the more she tried the more she seemed to have a ‘problem’ with her.

“She was my sister, I loved her very much. I felt as though I was grieving for our relationship months before she died,” she said.

Saying that Miss Wilkin died at some point between Saturday, September 13-Wednesday, September 17, assistant coroner Alan Moore recorded a verdict of death by hanging at the end of the hearing at Chester Magistrates Court.