​A Lydney man who died in a blazing car at a Forest of Dean beauty spot had just been told that his wife had filed for divorce, a coroner heard.

Shortly before his death, Tim Watson’s wife had taken £5,800 from his bank account after he left her at their home in Spain and returned to England to find work, the Gloucester inquest heard.

His family said he had come back to Britain in order to make money so that she could carry on living in Spain. Two days before his death her solicitors had notified him she wanted a divorce.

The 39-year-old was living with his parents at Brehal Close, Church Road, at the time of his death.

His burnt out BMW was found at the Nag’s Head nature reserve just outside Parkend on August 14, 2008.

The inquest was told that he had been looking at suicide websites on his computer the night before the fire but Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore decided that since there was no other indication that he had intended to take his own life, and experts were unable to find the cause of the fire, he would have to record an open verdict.

Tim’s mother Gillian said: “I knew he would talk to me when he was ready but he had already told me he was empty and destroyed about the break-up.”

 Det Sgt Ian Pipe said “The BMW was severely damaged and the fire service informed us that there was a body inside.

“About 25 metres in front of it there was packaging for sleeping tablets prescribed to Timothy Watson and the car was also traced to him,” he said.

Home office pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbeatter of Cardiff University said Mr Watson had drunk about one and a half times the legal driving limit of alcohol, and he had also taken Zopiclone sleeping tablets and an anti-depressant.

Coroner Alan Crickmore said two days before his death, Mr Watson seemed to be all right but he had clearly been affected by the letter from his wife’s solicitors.

He said: “He had taken sleeping tablets prescribed for stress and his reactions may have been restricted by the drugs and the alcohol when the car caught fire.”

However, he said there was no clear indication that Mr Watson intended to take his own life, and none as to how the fire had started, so the right verdict was an open one.