A couple’s caravan trip to a Gloucestershire lakeside ended in tragedy when the wife, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, wandered off in the night and was later found drowned, an inquest heard last week.

Assistant Gloucestershire Coroner Roland Wooderson said he was satisfied that the death of Betty Priddey, 79, of Lynden Wood, Webheath, Redditch, was largely due to her entering the water when ‘in a state of confusion and disorientation.’

The inquest in Gloucester was told that Mrs Priddey and her husband John, who had been married for 30 years, had travelled to Stone End House Farm, Corse with their caravan last August. It was a site they had regularly visited over the last 24 years.

Mr Preddy said his wife, despite her health having deteriorated for three years, was able to recognise the site owners, who had become friends of theirs.

At about 2am on August 22 Mr Preddy realised she had gone and called the police.

Officers found her in the lake and efforts to revive her were unsuccessful.

The coroner said: “Her Alzheimer’s dementia was likely to have played a significant role in her entering the water due to confusion and disorientation.”