AN elderly woman, who had a long history of depression, walked on to the platform at Huntingdon Railway Station and into the path of an on-coming train. An inquest in Cambridge found that Cicely Vivian, aged 86 from Hartford Road, Huntingdon, had taken he

AN elderly woman, who had a long history of depression, walked on to the platform at Huntingdon Railway Station and into the path of an on-coming train.

An inquest in Cambridge found that Cicely Vivian, aged 86 from Hartford Road, Huntingdon, had taken her own life.

The jury heard that Mrs Vivian, whose husband, Charles, died in October 2005, lived with her son and daughter. Nothing had seemed unusual on the morning of her death when her daughter left for work and said goodbye to her mother.

But just after noon on October 27 last year, Mrs Vivian went to the station and - despite being warned by a member of staff not to go so far along the platform - went to a spot where she could walk down onto the track.

The inquest was told that Mrs Vivian, a retired secretary who had lived with her husband in Kenya, had led a full and busy life. She had played Scrabble in the weeks just before her death and was sociable.

She had been given medication for depression and this had been adjusted after she said she was unhappy about side effects. Doctors had kept a close eye on her welfare and told the inquest her death had come as a shock to them.

The inquest was told she was also suffering from a lung condition, and before she died had a chest infection, poor appetite and poor motivation.