A DEBT-ridden Kidderminster man gassed himself in his car, an inquest heard.

Divorced forklift truck driver, Trevor Jones was found slumped in the driver's seat of his car in Chadwick Lane, Stourport Common.

The engine was running, the lights were on and a hose was found leading from the exhaust pipe into the car.

No note was found.

But Worcestershire coroner Victor Round told the Stourbridge inquest yesterday that the 43-year-old had confessed the night before to his sister Maureen Cartwright that he was in considerable debt.

She said her brother was crying and told her that his life was finished when he came to see her at her Stourport home at 7.20pm on Friday, September 1.

As he left he said he was going away, but she took it to mean on holiday. Mr Jones's body was found at 1.24am on Saturday, September 2.

Mr Round said the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning from exhaust fumes and he recorded a verdict that Mr Jones, of Whittall Drive East, Birchen Coppice, took his own life.