A RETIRED weaver died after undergoing an apparently successful operation to remove a tumour from her colon.

But her daughter questioned whether her mother's condition could have been diagnosed sooner.

An inquest heard that Mary Lord, 85, of Hollin Bridge Street, Blackburn, suffered internal bleeding several hours after the operation which led to a cardiac arrest.

A pathologist said that had there not been acute heart disease already present, Mrs Lord may have been able to survive the bleeding.

Coroner Andre Rebello recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Dr Lyndon Jones, a surgeon at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, told the inquest that the two-hour operation had been uncomplicated.

Mrs Lord had been transferred to a ward and everything was normal until there were two sudden drops in blood pressure, two hours apart. Dr Jones said these had been treated and Mrs Lord had responded well and when he last saw her she was alert and co-ordinated.

Mrs Lord's daughter, Vivienne Whittle, of Shorrock Lane, Blackburn, said her mother felt the system had let her down.

She said an appointment at the hospital in September 1997, because of a low blood count, had been cancelled and, in December, when she went to the hospital again there was no doctor available.

"We never heard anything more and my mother said she thought the system was getting tangled," said Mrs Whittle.

"If her appointment had not been cancelled, if she had had a bowel scan in September 1997, she might have stood a better chance if they had found the tumour then.

"Something seems to have gone wrong with the administration, they said she would get another appointment and she never did."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.