A DIVORCED plumber hanged himself after splitting up with his new girlfriend, an inquest heard.

Forty-one-year-old Steven Smith was found hanging from a length of nylon rope after police officers broke down his front door with a battering ram.

The alarm was raised after his brother Russell who could not get an answer at Mr Smith's home in Halton Road, Runcorn.

An inquest at Warrington heard that Mr Smith hanged himself just days after his girlfriend walked out. Months before he had taken an overdose of paracetemol after an argument with his partner and had been depressed since his divorce two years before.

His brother, who lives in St Helens, said: 'He met someone else after his divorce but something just didn't gell, they just did not get on together. She called me once to tell me Steven had been taken to hospital after an overdose.

'On June 12 she called to say it was all over, but she was worried about Steven's safety. I went to see him but he said he just wanted to sleep because he had been up all night arguing.

'I rang in the evening but there was no reply. There was no reply the next day either, so I went round and called the police who broke down the door.'

Mr Smith was found hanging from a beam in the attic.

North Cheshire coroner Nicholas Rheinberg recorded a verdict of suicide.