Steven Burgin, aged 58, had travelled the country in his role as internal auditor at Rank Casino before retiring last Christmas.

At an inquest into his death his wife Wendy said the former casino manager had worked for the firm for 35 years.

The court heard he had been looking for a new job around the time of his death on April 10 this year, and had sent off a few applications since taking retirement.

Wendy said she feared her husband had "probably thought he was on the scrapheap" and had told her he felt depressed.

The couple had been married for 39 years and Wendy said Steven had mentioned considering suicide earlier in the week but didn't go ahead with it because of a pledge he had made to her 30 years earlier.

She said: "I wish we had found him. I wish we could have saved him."

On the day he was found hanging from a rope attached to the loft at their home on Greenock Street in Hillsborough, Steven had been due to visit a doctor for anti-depressants.

No suicide note was found and coroner Donald Coutts-Wood recorded an open verdict.