AN alcoholic died in his father's car after drinking a large bottle of Bacardi white rum, an inquest heard.

Simon Pilkington, who leaves his wife Laura and five-year-old son Riley, died aged 39 after battling a serious drink problem, Bolton Coroners Court was told.

The inquest heard from his wife and his father Brian who said that Mr Pilkington used drink as a method of coping with stress.

He was in the process of separating from his wife, and had recently been made redundant from his job as an IT manager.

The inquest heard that Mr Pilkington had been admitted to the Royal Bolton Hospital 28 times during 2015 because of alcohol-related incidents.

On the day of his death, on November 23 last year, Mr Pilkington had been at his friend's house but his father was asked to pick him up because he had been drinking.

His father was taking his son to his home in Wardlow Street, Deane, but they stopped off at a supermarket before arriving there.

Against his father's wishes Mr Pilkington bought a 70cl bottle of Bacardi, and the inquest heard that he had almost drunk the whole bottle within 10 minutes of leaving the shop.

Mr Pilkington then fell asleep in his father's car, and he decided to let his son 'sleep it off' because he could not physically move his son inside, making him comfortable with a pillow and a blanket.

His father checked on him about an hour later but Mr Pilkington was not breathing, and because of his intoxication he was unable to clear his airways by coughing.

Dr Patrick Waugh, a consultant at the Royal Bolton Hospital, said Mr Pilkington died due to asphyxia caused by alcohol intoxication.

Mr Pilkington's wife Laura told the inquest that they had been on good terms before his death, and that he had been coming to visit their son.

Paying tribute to him after the inquest, she said: "He was a wonderful man, and a great dad."

During the inquest his father said that he and Mr Pilkington's mother had hoped that he would be admitted to a residential rehabilitation scheme, but thought he would have been reluctant to attend, as he had been at other meetings previously.

He said: "He didn't really want to go to any appointments, he thought he was OK. I had never seen him drink as much as he did that day, I think he just didn't care anymore."

Coroner Alison Mutch confirmed that his death was being recorded as alcohol related.