A 68-year-old former mayoress died in "highly unusual" circumstances after suffering from caffeine poisoning four months after her husband died, an inquest has heard.
Delyse Critchley was found dead in bed at her home in Bolton, Greater Mancs., on April 8 this year.
A post mortem report found Mrs Critchley, who served as mayoress for Bolton between 2009 and 2010, died from "caffeine toxicity".
Coroner Timothy Brennand said a police investigation was carried out but there are no suspicious circumstances.
According to experts, a caffeine overdose may occur when someone ingests more than the recommended amount of the drug, which is 400 milligrams per day for healthy adults.
Mr Brennand said: "The cause of death is highly unusual in terms of the substance that clearly has been implicated being caffeine."
The exact circumstances surrounding Mrs Critchley's death will be revealed at a full inquest at a later date.
At the opening on Wednesday (June 16), Bolton Coroner's Court heard police forced their way into the woman's house after reports of concern for her welfare.
Police coroner's officer Stefan Wilson told the court: "She was found in her bed, she was unresponsive and she was not breathing."
Mr Wilson added medication was found at the scene.
Paramedics arrived and declared her dead and Mrs Critchley was formally identified using her driving licence picture.
Her death comes just four months after that of her husband, Alderman Norman Critchley, who lost a long battle with prostate cancer.
The couple served as Bolton's mayor and mayoress in 2009-10.
Mr Brennand adjourned the inquest to a future date to allow time for further inquiries to be carried out.
