A 47-YEAR-OLD man may have killed himself because he had been placed on the sex offenders' register.

Arthur Oldham told an inquest in Blackburn that his brother, Christopher, had seemed fine the day before he was found in his car in a lay-by in Longridge with a pipe connected to the exhaust.

But he said his brother had been upset about the court action which resulted in him being put on the register.

Christopher, of Grange Avenue, Preston, was found dead in his car by a patrolling police officer at 8.35 am on Tuesday November 11. The engine was still running and the officer had to use his baton to smash the driver's window before switching off the ignition.

Arthur Oldham said said the day before his death Christopher had asked him for an antrax tablet to help him sleep. He had also done a job for his sister and she had given him two bottles of cider as a thank-you.

He said the empty cider bottles and an empty whisky bottle had been found in the car. He said his brother was involved in an on-off relationship with a woman called Melanie. He said they enjoyed an open sexual relationship.

"She was seeing other men and he was seeing other women," said Arthur. "They were always breaking up through petty arguments. Another thing that might have done it was that he was put on the sex offenders' register."

Mr Oldham said his brother would sometimes go on drink and drugs binges when he would lock himself away for two or three days at a time.

"He would come back out as if nothing had happened and carry on as normal," said Mr Oldham.

Coroner Michael Singleton said he was satisfied that Christopher Oldham, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning, had intended to take his own life.