PUBLICAN Paul Coulson hanged himself with a leather belt after returning to his pub from a wedding reception, an inquest heard.

Mr Coulson, 34, was found dead, hanging from a balcony balustrade, by a friend at The Crown, High Street, Chalfont St Giles.

A High Wycombe inquest heard last Thursday how the friend, Gary Stephen, climbed on to the roof of the pub when Mr Coulson failed to answer the door on the morning of August 27 last year.

He called the police after peering into a window to see Mr Coulson's suspended body.

PC James Rendle, who was the first to enter the pub after he arrived at the scene, said: "I found a man hanging by a belt looped around his neck. He was hanging in the stairwell between the landing and the stairs."

During a search of Mr Coulson's pockets, PC Rendle discovered a Samaritan's leaflet and a bottle of Diazepam tablets, the inquest heard.

Mr Coulson's girlfriend Louisa Howell, whose father co-owned the pub, told the inquest that he had acted strangely the evening before the wedding.

Ms Howell, of St Nicholas Close, Little Chalfont, described how Mr Coulson had been drinking with his friends in the pub when she decided to go home. It was then he wrapped a belt around his neck and started to make gurgling noises.

She told the inquest: "He seemed worried about something from time to time but he remained very secretive. We remained very close and I loved him very much. I never threatened to leave him."

Coroner Richard Hullet recorded a verdict that Mr Coulson had taken his own life.