Pensioner Sheila Hurditch died after drinking a glass of dandruff shampoo, an inquest heard.

She was found lying in her room with blood on her clothes and bedding.

A post-mortem report showed the Nizoral shampoo she drank had caused catastrophic damage to both of her lungs.

The shampoo had a corrosive effect affect which destroyed cells in the lungs used to breath through, Dr Yoon Chia, consultant pathologist for South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, told the High Wycombe inquest on Tuesday.

Mrs Hurditch, 70, had told staff at the Chalfont Lodge Nursing Home in Denham Lane, Chalfont St Peter, that she was not going to be resident for much longer, the inquest heard.

Unit sister Carmel Carter said Mrs Hurditch had been very talkative prior to her death but had made ambiguous threats to staff in the past.

She said: "She( Mrs Hurditch) never talked about previous attempts on her life but said she would not be a resident here for very long."

The inquest heard that Mrs Hurditch had tried to kill herself on two previous occasions. She had been using the shampoo to treat a scalp condition.

Recording an open verdict, Buckinghamshire coroner Richard Hulett said he had never encountered a case of death from ingestion of shampoo before.

He said: "She did not leave a note. She said ambiguously 'I won't be here for very long' but it could mean many things. She suffered from a certain amount of mental and physiological problems but was not so ill she did not know what she was doing."

Mrs Hurditch was found dead on the morning of April 10.