A disabled man who died after breaking his neck in a fall at his Skipton home may have taken hold of a faulty handrail, an inquest heard.

Charles Bottomley, 77, died in a fall on his stairs on June 4 while his wife was out in Ilkley, the Skipton inquest heard.

Mr Bottomley, who had reduced mobility following a heart attack and a stroke some years earlier, had a handrail fitted to the split stairway in the house.

Two weeks before Mr Bottomley’s death, the handrail had become loose and on May 22 it had been reported to the fitters, the Mears Group, based at the offices of Craven District Council. Mr Bottomley was told the fitter was on holiday and he would repair it on his return, the inquest heard in a statement from Mr Bottomley’s wife, Philomena.

Mrs Bottomley said her husband had been disabled since having a stroke in 1997, that his ability to get about had been restricted and had got worse following a heart attack and bypass operation.

She said he struggled to get up the stairs, that it would take him some time and coming down, he would shuffle on his bottom. The police officer who went to the house following Mr Bottomley’s death said in a statement how a handrail had been pulled away from the wall and that Mr Bottomley’s walking frame was at the top of the stairs where he had left it.

Coroner, Rob Turnbull, said it would remain a mystery whether or not Mr Bottomley had taken hold of the rail before his fall.

He said Mr Bottomley had been ill for some years and that the doctor who carried out the post mortem said he could have lost his balance as the result of a ‘medical event’.

He concluded that Mr Bottomley had died as a result of an accident and told the family that they might want to take up the handrail with the company.

After the inquest, Bernadette Walsh, for Mears Home Improvement, Craven, said the company was sorry to hear of Mr Bottomley’s death and offered his family its condolences. “We always endeavour to fix broken adaptations as quickly as possible. While we offered Mr Bottomley an earlier appointment to repair the handrail, he declined as he wanted to wait for a specific technician who had carried out the original installation 16 months earlier,” she said.