An elderly woman was killed when the green beans she was eating went down the wrong way, an inquest heard.

Evelyn Berger, 81, who lived at the Hyman Fine House nursing home in Burlington Street, Brighton, died suddenly, hours after eating the beans for lunch.

The inquest at Brighton Coroner's Court was told Mrs Berger suffered from severe heart disease which could have caused her death at any time.

But a post-mortem examination unexpectedly revealed the cause of her death was respiratory failure due to asphyxiation.

The beans were found lodged in her airway where they had caused an obstruction.

The lunch menu on the day she died in September included cottage pie and green beans.

Pathologist Margaret Ashton-Key told the hearing Mrs Berger must have inhaled the beans into her windpipe instead of swallowing them. She did not choke and at first there would have been room in the airpipes for her to continue breathing.

But gradually the amount of air getting into her lungs was restricted and she was asphyxiated.

At about 5.30pm she complained to a nurse she was feeling unwell but she did not want a doctor or an ambulance to be called.

Moments later she collapsed. An ambulance was called but resuscitation was not successful.

She was later confirmed dead at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Brighton and Hove Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded a verdict of accidental death.

She said: "This is an accident which was entirely unpreventable."