A LOVING husband took an apparently accidental overdose of painkillers as he struggled with chronic back pain.

Retired welder Simon Culley was found dead on the sofa the morning after a family barbecue in May.

The 39-year-old had suffered with back pain for years, Warrington Coroners Court heard.

"He was in agony all the time," said his wife, Amanda, who lived with him and their daughter at Hadfield Close, Crow Wood, Widnes.

Mrs Culley, a medical secretary, said her husband had been on 'cloud nine' in the days before his death after buying his dream car, a Jaguar.

And family friend Sandra Sadler, an accountant from Cowan Way, said Mr Culley had been as happy as she had seen for 'four or five years'.

A statement from Mr Culley's, father, Thomas Culley, said: "He was a loving and generous son who loved his wife and daughter.

"There's no question of suicide. There's no way he would leave his wife and daughter."

A post mortem found Mr Culley died of toxic levels of painkillers, exacerbated by alcohol.

Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said the lack of direct evidence meant he could only reach an open verdict, not one of accidental death - to the visible distress of Mrs Sadler and her husband.

However, he said an accident was more likely, adding: "It may be that in the early hours of the morning he mistakenly took an excessive dose of painkillers with the intention of ending his pain - not ending his life."