A MAN in the care of Wigan Social Services died of natural causes, an inquest heard.

Paul Shovelton died aged 55 from heart failure at his home just two days after he discharged himself from the Royal Bolton Hospital.

The hearing heard how the dad-of-three, who suffered from alcohol dependency, was found dead by an iCare meals worker who had been delivering a meals on wheels service to his home.

Mr Shovelton's sister Kathleen Greenough claimed Wigan Social Services had not carried out proper assessments on her brother and that he was left sitting "in a freezing cold home in his own faeces and urine."

Mr Shovelton, from Oxford Road in Atherton, was admitted to The Royal Bolton Hospital on January 24, with a chest infection, hyperthermia and symptoms of malnutrition.

While he was in hospital, Wigan and Leigh Housing carried out a deep clean of his home which his sister Kathleen Greenough said took more than a month and a half to be arranged.

The inquest heard that Wigan and Leigh Housing had "learnt from their mistakes" after admitting to not chasing up their cleaning contractor EJG to carry out the deep clean sooner.

But Mrs Greenough said her brother had been left in conditions "not fit for a dog" in the months leading up to his death on February 8, 2012, and even after the deep clean he was left in a flat, with no phone, heating, clothes, food supplies, bedding and limited furniture.

Royal Bolton Hospital and Wigan Social Services both said they advised Mr Shovelton not to discharge himself from hospital to give Wigan and Leigh Housing more time to replace goods that had been disposed of in the deep clean, but the court heard that their pleas "fell on deaf ears."

Pathologist Steven Mills who worked for Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Trust at the time of Mr Shovelton's death told the inquest Mr Shovelton had more than two and a half times the legal limit of alcohol in his system but said neither this or his living conditions were contributory factors in to his death.

Coroner Jennifer Lemming recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.

Mrs Greenough said: "I wish I could have prevented him from dying in such tragic circumstances."