PENSIONER Hazel Turner went on holiday to overcome her depression and drowned while having a farewell swim, a Harrogate inquest heard.

Coroner Geoff Fell, who said Mrs Turner, 77, of Almsford Avenue, Harrogate, had had a heart attack before being found by her husband, Anthony, who was swimming nearby, floating face down in the sea off the coast of Minorca.

In a statement read by Mr Fell - who recorded an accidental death verdict yesterday - Mr Turner said his wife had been affected by depression on and off for 30 years, but was physically fit.

Both her GP and a psychiatrist had said she could travel abroad and the couple had gone for an 11-day stay on Minorca, in June 2001.

Mrs Turner had not complained of feeling unwell and on the day before they were due to return home, they went swimming at a point where the beach had a gentle slope, the sea was calm and there were no currents.

Mr Turner said his wife had been a good swimmer, but he had been ahead of her, looking back occasionally. He took his eyes off his wife for just a minute and when he looked back she was about 12 yards away, face down. Some Spanish divers and an English doctor had tried to help her, but she could not be resuscitated.

Mr Fell said a post-mortem examination had revealed the cause of death to be drowning, which had been as a consequence of Mrs Turner having a heart attack.

Updated: 11:14 Thursday, February 27, 2003