A WORKER on a country estate who took his own life was “a friend to everyone and would help anybody”.

Tim Sale, 42, hanged himself at his home on the Ditchley Estate near Enstone after battling alcoholism, an inquest in Oxford heard.

The father-of-three was part of the maintenance team at the estate.

He had accidentally run over and killed his dog Marley about two weeks before his death on Sunday, November 27.

Mr Sale was also worried about a meeting the following day to discuss his drinking at work, the coroner heard on Wednesday.

Speaking after the inquest, his wife of 12 years Kim Fazackerley-Sale des-cribed Mr Sale as an outdoor person who devoted his life to his family.

She said: “He was an absolutely fantastic father and fantastic husband who very much did everything for his wife and children.

“He was a friend to everyone and he would help anybody.”

Mr Sale, who grew up in Kidlington and went to Gosford Hill School, was just over three times the drink-drive limit for alcohol at the time of his death.

Mrs Fazackerley-Sale said her husband had told her he was “going off to think” on the Friday before his death and would be back on Sunday.

She said: “One time, after a binge, he said he felt so low he thought about killing himself, but I never thought he would.”

Friend Terry Bateman, who picked up Mr Sale from his parents’ house in Kidlington on the Sunday, added: “He had told me he had thought about ending it all, but he never gave me the impression he would.”

Coroner Darren Salter recorded a verdict that Mr Sale took his own life.

He added: “There was no note, but the act itself is enough.”