A MAN died at his Hampshire home because his enlarged heart weighed over half a kilogram.

Simon Jones, 43, was found dead on his sofa next to empty food wrappers and a plate of toast which had fallen between cushions, an inquest heard.

The body of Mr Jones, who weighed 22 stone, was discovered at his Winchester home by his 82-year-old father, Peter.

Winchester Coroner’s Court heard that a post-mortem examination found Mr Jones’s heart weighed 636 grams, almost double the average for a typical man.

Consultant pathologist Dr Adnan Al-Badri told the inquest that hearts weighing more than 500 grams can “cause sudden death at any time” but there was no evidence that Mr Jones suffered a heart attack.

Delivering his verdict, senior Central Hampshire coroner Grahame Short recorded that Mr Jones had died of natural causes due to hypertension and obesity.