A milkman on an early morning delivery round discovered the body of a woman who killed herself in her car, an inquest heard.

Jacqueline Mabbett, 40, a temporary legal secretary, of Laurel Drive, Southmoor, near Abingdon, was found in her Renault 5 on August 14 last year. She had a glass of wine in her hand and the bottle was on the floor.

The vehicle was parked with the engine running in the car park of Botley Medical Centre, in Elms Road, Oxford, where the divorce was a registered patient.

Pathologist Dr Sanjiv Manek, of the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, said the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning.

Dr John Slater, from the medical centre, said she had been diagnosed as clinically depressed in 1998 and had taken an overdose.

She was staying with her sister's ex-husband, John Davies because she had financial difficulties.

He said: "I knew she was down and wanted a proper job because she was fed up with temping, but I did not realise she felt that bad."

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict that Ms Mabett took her own life.