BARMAN Andrew James Staff made a ligature out of a black bin bag to hang himself at Chapelhay Heights in Weymouth, a coroner heard.

The 54-year-old tightened the ligature using a crutch by lodging the end in a tree, West Dorset Coroner Michael Johnston was told at an inquest in Dorchester.

Mr Johnston recorded a verdict that Mr Staff took his own life after suffering from a history of depression and money and accommodation problems.

Mr Staff, of Rodwell Avenue, Weymouth, was found dead on his 54th birthday in September.

Special Constable Robert Nobbs, said in a statement that a member of the public alerted him while he was on patrol, saying that a man was lying on the embankment near Love Lane, possibly asleep.

But Special Constable Nobbs said he could see the man was not moving. He touched the man's hand and it was extremely cold. There was no pulse.

Christine Whitehorn, licensee of the Wellington Arms in Weymouth, said in a statement that Mr Staff was an intelligent man who liked to sit in the bar and do the Times crossword or read.

Later she employed him as a part-time barman. Mrs Whitehorn was aware that he had problems with accommodation. He also told Mrs Whitehorn he was bi-polar but did not want to take medication.

She said he seemed all right when he left her pub at lunchtime but she could not contact him by phone that night. She realised from what other people told her that Mr Staff had been putting things in order in the days before his death.

Mr Johnston said he was satisfied from a note left by Mr Staff that he had intended to take his own life. A postmortem examination revealed the cause of death as hanging with a subsidiary cause of heart disease.

Blood tests showed no drugs in his system but he had been drinking and his alcohol level was nearly three times the driving limit.