A WELL-KNOWN member of the community who served as a parish councillor died after she fell down the stairs at her home near Hereford, an inquest has heard.

Retired veterinary assistant Jane Elizabeth Rees was a fit and healthy 74-year-old, her son Michael Hayes told Hereford Coroners Court, but it was believed she tripped over her cat and suffered a serious head injury at her Clehonger home.

She fell to the bottom, and was found unconscious by her other son Mark Hayes, who she lived with.

In a statement read at the inquest into her death on Monday (June 21), Michael Hayes said his mother was an animal lover, who had a cat, dog, birds and rabbits.

He believed she had been going upstairs to feed the cat on the morning of April 11 when she fell halfway down the stairs to the bottom. She was then found by his brother Mark after he heard a crash.

Mrs Rees, who was a member of Clehonger Parish Council, led a good social life and was a grandmother, was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, but she never regained consciousness and died later that day.

Dr Tony Whitehouse said surgery would not be possible and described her injuries as "extremely severe". He said the medical cause of death was a traumatic brain injury.

Assistant coroner for Herefordshire Roland Wooderson recorded a verdict of accidental death.