A CORONER has recorded a verdict of suicide over the death of a woman hit by a lorry after she left her family a note apparently saying the so-called bedroom tax had caused her "considerable anxiety and stress".

Stephanie Bottrill, 52, walked across the M6 and climbed a safety barrier early on May 4 last year and died of multiple injuries suffered in the collision.

Zafar Siddique, area coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, said: "I am satisfied she intended to take her own life."

The case of Ms Bottrill, of Solihull, West Midlands, made news after her son Steven claimed she had blamed the Government's housing policy for her actions in a suicide note - specifically the spare room subsidy or bedroom tax.

Ms Bottrill, a former postal worker, who lived alone in a three-bed terrace home, agreed to see her GP the day before her death, after her family expressed concern.

Yesterday's inquest into Ms Bottrill's death at Birmingham Coroners Court heard she had the option of a move from her home of 20 years, to another smaller property in Birmingham.

Her doctor told the inquest Ms Bottrill expressed unhappiness at being pushed by the housing department to make a decision about the house in half an hour. But a Solihull council spokesman said there was never a requirement for Ms Bottrill to move.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said it was a tragic case.