AN INQUEST has found that a 77-year-old woman died naturally after stopping to sit down during a walk.

Mavis Hardy, 77, was found dead by her friends lying next to a tree on a popular walking route a mile from her Fordingbridge home.

The pensioner, who lived alone in a cottage at The Fairings, off Fordingbridge High Street, would often walk up to ten miles a day, the court heard.

The inquest was told police were called and when they visited her home they found her front door had been left open.

DC Jonathan Matthews of Lyndhurst CID said it was his belief that Ms Hardy had climbed over a wire fence on the Avon Bridle footpath and stopped to rest by a tree.

She was found on November 30, her hat and gloves neatly placed by her side.

Coroner Keith Wiseman was told she last spoke with her family on November 14.

She had suffered from a heart condition and was also suffering financial stress but there was nothing to suggest she had taken her own life, said Dr Brett Lockyer who carried out the post-mortem.

Mr Wiseman recorded a verdict that she died of natural causes.