The body of a woman was found by an estate agent who had taken a potential buyer to view her house, an inquest heard.

Pamela Simon, 56, who was discovered on the stairs of the house in Churchfields, Bishop's Cleeve, had died of the effects of alcohol dependency, the Gloucester inquest was told.

Ms Simon had a history of alcohol problems, depression and had tried de-tox programmes on a number of occasions, coroner Alan Crickmore heard.

He ruled out that anti-depressant amitriptyline found in her system had played a significant role in her death and said her liver problems could have killed her at "any time".

In a statement read out at the hearing, Michel Demel, of Andrews estate agents, said he had contacted Ms Simon on February 6 to arrange a viewing the next day and got the impression she was drunk.

The next afternoon, he went to her address and noticed the windows were open despite it being "freezing" cold. He got no reply at the door.

He noticed, looking through a window, that she was lying on her back on the stairs which were in the living room, said Mr Demel.

At this time the prospective buyer arrived, said Mr Demel, and the pair managed to gain entry to the property, where it was clear Ms Simon was dead.

Ms Simon's brother Paul told the court in a statement that Pamela, a chef by occupation, had a "sad life" and started drinking 30 years ago – frequently to excess.

She had been referred to Gloucestershire Drug and Alcohol Service and had tried rehab.

And when he last spoke to her on December 12 last year, she had no intention to take her life, said Mr Simon.

The inquest also heard from Ms Simon's sister, Nicola Hayek, who attended the hearing, that she had made suicide attempts but that was a "few years" ago, she had said.

The court heard how Ms Hayek had spoken to Ms Simon two days before her death on February 5 and she said she had taken three doses of amitriptyline in the last 18 hours to help her sleep.

A post-mortem carried out by Professor Neil Shepherd put the cause of death down to the combination of hepatic steatosis – fatty liver disease – and the amitriptyline overdose.

Toxicology showed amitriptyline at 1.32mlg per litre – a level suggestive of recent ingestion but not necessarily an overdose, the court heard.

Summing up, Mr Crickmore said he thought Ms Simon probably had taken more of the anti-depressant than had been prescribed – to get some sleep.

"I'm not satisfied that an amitriptyline overdose played a significant role," he said, adding that her fatty liver disease could have accounted for her death at any time.

He recorded a verdict that she had died of the effects of alcohol dependency.