A GRANDFATHER has called for more public awareness about the dangers of parents co-sleeping with their babies.

Mervyn Lambert was speaking out today after an inquest in Bradford heard how his only grandson died at six-weeks-old in his parents bed.

Although forensic pathologists could not come up with a specific medical cause for Noah Pearson's tragic death on May 31 this year at his home in Springmill Street, West Bowling, there were a series of significant factors with recognised links to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The inquest heard how Noah's parents had gone straight to bed after a night out and Noah had been sleep in his Moses's basket next to them. However, he had started crying at about 5am and his father Paul had got up to give him a bottle, before cradling him in his arms and falling asleep with the baby in between them.

When a ringing mobile woke the baby's parents a few hours later they found Noah unresponsive and rang 999 - he was confirmed dead at Bradford Royal Infirmary's A&E department a short time later.

Bradford and Airedale Hospitals' designated Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Officer, Dr Eduardo Moya told the inquest in his opinion Noah, who had been a healthy, well cared for and well nourished little boy, had been a victim of SIDS - he had also been at the most vulnerable age between six and eight-weeks-old.

He said there had been an unfortunate and not deliberate set of other circumstances that had also increased Noah's risk of SIDS and listed them as sleeping in his parents bed, his parent's alcohol consumption which would have made them less alert to any problems, having a cold infection in his nose, a history of one or both of his parents smoking and overheating.

Dr Moya said he had seen many similar cases and although Noah's parents had done nothing deliberately wrong there was a need to raise awareness about the risk factors that had come together in this case - particularly alcohol consumption.

Assistant Bradford corner Dr Dominic Bell recorded a narrative verdict, listing SIDS as the cause of death and co-sleeping along with parental alcohol consumption as contributory but not direct factors.

Speaking after the inquest Noah's grandfather Mr Lambert said: "I'd like to see a national campaign, the NHS needs to do more awareness about this."

Noah's mum Emily Lambert, 22, who has a four-year-old daughter, said neither she or her partner were big drinkers and it had been the first time they had been out for a year.