A woman died after choking on a sandwich at a Bradford care home, an inquest has heard.

Carol Todd’s brain was starved of oxygen after the sandwich got stuck in her upper airway in November 2010.

Miss Todd, 59, who had lived at Walmer Lodge, in Walmer Villas, Manningham, for 12 years, had been eating a sandwich when she got up and walked away from the table.

Staff then saw her fall but when they went to help her realised it was not the usual type of falling episode she suffered and that she was choking.

She went into respiratory arrest and staff tried to resuscitate her while waiting for paramedics who took her to Bradford Royal Infirmary.

A large piece of the sandwich was found stuck in her airway.

Miss Todd was admitted on to the intensive care unit but failed to rally round, said acting Bradford coroner Professor Paul Marks.

Doctors suspected she had suffered hypoxic brain damage because of choking and although she showed occasional signs of breathing spontaneously it was decided her outcome was poor, she had convulsions and her prognosis was poor which resulted in her life support being switched off two days later.

The inquest heard how Miss Todd’s parents and foster parents had died and although it was believed she had a brother there had been no contact with any relative in the years she had lived at the home, so doctors had to get the consent of an independent individual before the ventilation support could be ended.

Professor Marks said he found as fact that Miss Todd – who had pre-existing learning difficulties which meant she needed help with daily activities and had little communication – had choked on a sandwich and that the chain of causation led to her airway being obstructed and her suffering a cardio- respiratory arrest from which she failed to rally.

He recorded it was an accidental death.