A 91-year-old Winchester woman died after falling down a set of stairs at her care home, an inquest heard.

Audrey Sherlock was found crying for help at the bottom of the stairs of Abbeygate Residential Home on June 16 last year.

Winchester Coroner's Court heard how the pensioner, who suffered from dementia and bouts of dizziness, suffered a serious head injury during the fall.

Staff at the care home on Quarry Road, where she had lived since October 2008, called an ambulance and she was taken to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. She died ten days later.

A post mortem revealed the main cause of death was a head injury with secondary factors of heart disease and the narrowing of the aortic valves.

Deputy Coroner for Central Hampshire Simon Burge recorded a verdict of accidental death.