A KIND and private man died following a fall after being locked out of his Worcester home, an inquest was told.

Roger Champken tripped on a roll of carpet while trying to get into his flat through a cupboard on his ground-floor balcony on Saturday, February 18, when he discovered he had forgotten his keys.

It is believed he spent more than 14 hours in agony before a friend spotted him at about 7am the following day and alerted neighbours Sonia and Peter Murray.

Mr Champken of Tudor Way, Dines Green, was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital but his condition deteriorated and he died on Sunday, February 26.

Speaking at the Coroners Court, in Stourport-on -Severn, Mrs Murray said she and her husband, Peter, had known the 64-year-old, who was commonly known as ‘Bill’, for about four years and saw him every day as he called at 7am to walk their dog and they often had lunch together.

She described him as a “very kind” but “quite a private man” and told the hearing how he had left their home at the usual time of 4pm-4.30pm and assumed he tried to get in via the balcony as he had forgotten his key.

“I was worried about Bill having been there all night and being cold but I did not see any other reason to worry.

“He was a bit worried he had put everybody to bother and he said, ‘I will be out and walking the dog.’” Mrs Murray said her husband had taken Mr Champken to the doctors a few weeks before as he was worried his blood pressure may have been high.

She also said he suffered from anxiety, for which he was given medication, and spoke of having a couple of dizzy spells.

Worcestershire coroner Geraint Williams returned a verdict of accidental death.

The medical cause of death was given as severe sepsis which caused bronchial pneumonia and he had a fractured head of the right femur (broken hip) as a result of the fall.

This was contributed to by acute kidney injury and a metabolic break down in his body caused by lying down stationary for so long.

Mr Champken lived alone and was unmarried with no children.

He was originally from Bromyard but had been in Worcester since 1990 and at the Worcester Community Housing flat in Dines Green for about eight years.