PENSIONER Mrs. Florence Cooper may have had a dizzy spell before she fell downstairs at her Podington home, a Kettering inquest heard today.

Mrs. Cooper died in Ketter ing General Hospital five days after she was admitted following the fall at 13 Gold Street, Podington. She was 83. Recording a verdict of accidental death, East Northants Coroner Mr. M. P. Collcutt said he was quite satisfied that death was caused by the fall.

Dr. H. Voss, consultant pathologist at Kettering General Hospital, said death was due to bronchial pneumonia caused by head injuries. Dr. Voss said that a dizzy spell might have caused the fall. Dr. M. C. Spencer, a casualty officer at Kettering General Hospital, said Mrs. Cooper was admitted for observation on a head injury on June 29.

He said Mrs. Cooper began to improve and at one stage there was possibility of her going home.

Mrs. Cooper's husband, Mr. George Cooper, said for sometime before the fall his wife had been suffering from dizzy spells.

Mr. Cooper said when she fell down the stairs she refused to see a doctor and only complained that she had banged her head. He said she was later admitted to hospital.

Mr. Geoffrey Cooper, of 72 Talbot Road, Rushden, Mrs. Cooper's son, said she had suffered from dizzy spells and breathing trouble for some time.