A pensioner who was prone to falling and had to use a stick to get around the house, died after falling down the stairs.

Valerie Towers, 72, was found at the bottom of her stairs by her daughter Rebecca Taylor on April 21.

An inquest in Blackburn heard that Mrs Towers' mobility wasn't very good and she would often use a stroller while walking around her home in Derwent Street, Darwen.

In a statement read out by Coroner Richard Taylor, her daughter, Mrs Taylor, said her mother would be very careful on the stairs and would sometimes go up and down them on her bottom, step by step.

Mr Taylor said: "Valerie's family had not heard from her for a few days, and she hadn't been answering her phone.

"So they went round to the property in Derwent Street and forced entry after discovering it was locked and secure.

"They found her at the bottom of the stairs.

"The family had been renovating a bungalow for Valerie, as she had a history of falls.

"They found one slipper halfway up the stairs and one at the bottom."

Mr Taylor recorded a conclusion of accidental death and said that Mrs Towers died on April 21 from an injury received in an unwitnessed fall on the stairs at her home.