A HEREFORDSHIRE man took his own life after searching for ways to commit "painless suicide" on the internet, an inquest heard.

Michael Andrew Evans, from Colwall, who had been suffering from depression for two years, was struck by a train after lying down on the track.

Mr Evans, aged 38, had left his home at 9pm last October, saying he needed a walk to clear his head.

Andrew Porter, of the British Transport Police, told the coroner the impact happened beneath the Walwyn Road bridge.

He said that Mr Evans had probably climbed over the bridge and a wooden fence before walking down a bank to the track.

Dr Martin Bracewell, of Hereford County Hospital, told the inquest Mr Evans had taken the drug 5HTP for around a month but in the last five weeks had turned to prozac.

Caroline Evans said her husband had mentioned suicide on a number of occasions in the past when things were getting "too bad" for him, but she had thought he would never actually do it.

She said after his death she looked on his computer and found he had accessed a website giving advice on painless suicides, and that being hit by a train was mentioned on it.

Consultant pathologist Frank McGinty noted that Mr Evans' injuries were consistent with him being laid across the track at the moment of impact.

Coroner David Halpern recorded that Mr Evans had taken his own life.

He added that it was very sad and that a number of people had been trying to put Mr Evans' mind at rest in the days that had led up to his death.