The family of a Bradford police sergeant who died suddenly are unlikely to ever know exactly what killed him.

It could have been pollen, an insect bite or food, but the true source of whatever triggered an allergic shock in Philip Goss will remain a mystery, an inquest head.

Sgt Goss, 50, who was with the Little and Great Horton Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), collapsed as he was walking down the stairs at his home in Foxhill Grove, Queensbury, last September.

The night before, he had complained of a sore throat, the Bradford inquest was told.

His wife had been on the phone when he appeared on the steps and collapsed.

She rang paramedics and tried to resuscitate him until help arrived but in a statement told how her breath just seemed to inflate his cheeks.

Paramedics also struggled to get a breathing tube in to get him to hospital.

Sgt Goss, a father-of-three, died later at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

It was ruled out as unlikely that chemicals he had used to paint his fence with had anything to do with the anaphylactic shock he had suffered.

“It is something we’ll probably never know,” said Deputy Coroner Paul Marks, who recorded a verdict of natural causes.

After Sgt Goss’s death, the divisional commander of Bradford South Police Alison Rose paid tribute to the officer, who was with the police since 1989 and at Bradford South since 2005.

Chief Supt Rose said: “Phil was courageous during operational incidents but had a gentle side to him that made people proud to work with him. He was the kind of decent man that represents everything good about the policing service.”