A 48-year-old Burnley woman died after suffering deep vein thrombosis following an operation to remove a benign tumour from her jaw.

An inquest heard that complicated surgery had been necessary because the tumour would not have responded to other treatments and would have continued to grow.

Ann Frances McCabe, of Grasmere Street, appeared to be making a good recovery despite minor setbacks and her husband had been shocked to receive a phone call on May 26 to say his wife had died. John McCabe said: "I phoned only an hour earlier and she was fine."

Pathologist William Lawler explained that removal of the tumour involved replacing part of the jawbone with a bone graft from the fibula. His post-mortem examination revealed the operation had been a success but Mrs McCabe's sudden and unexpected death had been as a result of a blood clot lodging in the lungs after a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Dr Lawler said DVT was a recognised complication of the immobility that inevitably follows surgery.

Recording a natural cause of death, coroner Michael Singleton said there had been every expectation Mrs McCabe would have a successful outcome to surgery. "That she should succumb to a recognised, albeit rare complication is tragic.