A TRAGIC 20-year battle with mental health issues saw a 39-year-old woman die in hospital far away from home.

Lisa Ann Hucknall, from Barrow, was admitted to the Priory Hospital in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in December 2015.

She had become agitated during her time away from Cumbria and repeatedly asked to return home.

An inquest at Barrow Town Hall on Monday heard how Miss Hucknall collapsed two months later on February 6.

Assistant coroner Mr Robert Chapman heard a long history of her psychiatric issues stretching back to the mid-1990s.

Having left school at 16, Miss Hucknall's behavioural issues made work difficult and, in 1994, she became an outpatient after hearing voices.

In 1996, her schizophrenia deteriorated again and in 2003 she was admitted for hallucinations, paranoia and drinking excessively.

She was admitted to Appletree in County Durham in April 2015, before being transferred to the Carleton Clinic, Carlisle, and then the Dova Unit in Barrow.

A place was found at Glenn Garth House in the town, but this ultimately fell through and she was moved to Yorkshire.

Joe Attard, care coordinator at Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust, said: "She had an enduring mental health condition but there were no places in Cumbria which could meet her needs.

"She was concerned about being away from her family when she was moved away from Barrow.

"You can't live on an acute ward. She needed to live somewhere with a low stimuli."

The inquest is set to conclude on Tuesday, with Miss Hucknall's family due to give evidence before the coroner records a verdict.