A WOMAN died hours after enjoying her 60th birthday party when the alcohol she drank during the celebrations caused food to go into her lungs.

Amersham Coroner's Court heard on Wednesday, May 31, how Maria Patricia Manod Williams, a doctor's receptionist from Brambleside, High Wycombe, was found dead in a foetal position on her bedroom floor the morning after her special day.

She was found at 5am on February 12 by her husband Owen who had taken his wife to Cliveden the day before for birthday drinks before driving home for a family party.

Coroner Richard Hulett said: "This was very sad and bitterly unlucky in the circumstances. There was no warning. It looks as though, accidentally, there's been a gastric come-back of food that's gone into the lungs but no one witnessed that."

Mr Hulett recorded a verdict of accidental death caused by aspiration the draw of fluid by the suction of cavity of the gastric contents due to alcoholic ingestion.

A post-mortem report revealed that Mrs Manod Williams had consumed alcoholic drinks equivalent to twice the drink-driving limit. The court heard how Mr Manod Williams found his wife on the floor when he got up to use the bathroom.

He said: "I think she must have got up during the night. Normally the bedroom door would be open but because we had guests there it was closed. She must have gone into the door and fallen down and that was it."