A husband who left his wife where she fell at the bottom of the stairs, thinking she was asleep, found her dead the next morning.

A Chelmsford inquest heard that Margaret Langsford, 36, had been out for a meal with her husband, Peter, on March 22.

The pair drank wine with their food and when they returned home to Cleveland Close, Colchester, drank more wine before going to bed.

In the middle of the night Mr Langsford was woken by a bang and found his wife at the bottom of the stairs.

The court heard he made her comfortable and left her there, believing she was asleep.

But when he woke he discovered she had not moved and realised she was dead.

A post-mortem examination showed Mrs Langsford died from a head injury.

Tests showed she also had 237mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit to drive is 80mg.

Essex coroner, Caroline Beasley Murray recorded a verdict of accidental death.