WIFE Mary Carne and husband Fred took the same lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol, less than a day apart leaving their only daughter Jeanette alone.

An inquest into the double deaths held yesterday heard how Mrs Carne, 53, died on her bed on November 10 last year, with an empty bottle of her husband's anti-depressants on the floor beside her.

The next day, after making arrangements for her mother's funeral, Miss Carne returned home, where she found her 59-year-old father who told her he had taken some pills.

A tearful Miss Carne told the inquest at Chippenham Magistrates Court: "He said I'm really sorry, I've taken some pills. I didn't know what else to do."

An ambulance took Mr Carne to Bath's Royal United Hospital, where he slipped into a coma. He never woke up and on November 21, Miss Carne gave permission for his life support machine to be turned off.

The couple, from Danvers Mead, Chippenham, travelled to Spain on holiday two months before the tragedy and went Christmas shopping the day before Mrs Carne, who was an auxiliary nurse at Chippenham's Community Hospital, died.

Her daughter said her mother smoked 40 cigarettes a day and admitted she drank alcohol to such an extent that she and her father tried to remove drink from the house.

But she added that her parents were "particularly looking forward to Christmas that year," because Mr Carne, who lost his job as a greengrocer two months before, never usually had time off during the festive season.

The pathologist's report following a post mortem examination on Mrs Carne showed 3.8milligrammes of Dothiepin per litre of blood, with 2mgs being a serious level of toxicity.

It also found 300mgs of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, with 80mgs being the legal driving limit.

But Wiltshire's assistant deputy coroner Nigel Brookes said Mrs Carne left no notes and appeared to have no troubled family relationships, financial or health problems that may have driven her to suicide.

Mrs Carne's boss, senior ward sister Sara-Jane Dry, said: "People said she lived for her family. She was worried about her husband's health, but I was not aware of anything else that was worrying her."

The inquest heard that Mr Carne was prescribed the anti-depressant Dothiepin to help him cope with the anxiety and stress caused by his redundancy.

His GP William Henry from Chippenham's Hathaway Surgery said he also received medication for gout and angina.

A post mortem examination concluded that Mr Carne died from multi-organ failure, but the toxicity report was not available because of the time gap between the overdose and his death.

But the pathologist was able to confirm Mr Carne had taken the same combination of alcohol and drugs as his wife.

In a statement provided for the court, Mrs Carne's mother Amanda Mitchell, from Cornwall, said she was surprised when she heard Mr Carne had taken some tablets because she did not think that was the sort of thing he would do, even after his wife's death.

Mr Brookes said: "There is not sufficient evidence to suggest that he intended to take his own life. It could have been a cry for help."

The coroner recorded an open verdict on both deaths.

"It's slightly unsatisfactory, but I feel in the circumstances there is no alternative in both cases," he said.

"My sympathy is with Miss Carne who lost not one but two parents in such a short period of time."

The inquest had heard that Mrs Carne went to bed early on the night of her death after cooking dinner for her husband and daughter.

Mr Carne discovered her body at 9pm and her daughter telephoned the emergency services.

A fire engine with a defibrillator, used for resuscitation, was on the scene within minutes because no ambulances were immediately available.

Miss Carne had already attempted to revive her mother when the firefighters arrived, but 25 minutes later her mother was declared dead.

Mr Brookes, said: "There is no evidence to suggest it would have made any difference if an ambulance had been able to reach the scene sooner. It seems she was already dead by the time the fire brigade arrived."