FINANCIAL difficulties contributed to the suicide of a 36-year-old man found hanged at the Canterbury car dealership where he worked, an inquest has heard.

The body of Gary Thompson, of Featherbed Lane, Selling, was discovered at VW dealer EuroCanterbury, in Broad Oak Road, in the early hours of Tuesday, November 25, last year.

His fiancee, Paula Chapman, was concerned when he failed to turn up at her Faversham house as expected on the Monday evening, and did not respond to calls on his mobile.

Police were called after Mr Thompson's father and sister drove to his work compound, spotted his car behind locked gates and could hear his mobile ringing unanswered inside the building when they tried to call it.

His body was found in the department in which he worked as a workshop controller at about 3am. No suspicious circumstances were noted.

Ms Chapman told the inquest she was aware Mr Thompson was in debt but not the full extent of his financial trouble.

She described how on the Monday evening he had written on the envelope of his life insurance documents that everything should be passed to her, but he would get round to drawing up a proper will at a later date.

Mr Thompson left no suicide note, but a text message to Ms Chapman sent by him at 8.15pm on the Monday, 20 minutes after he had left her house, said simply: "I love you with all my heart".

In delivering her verdict, Coroner Rebecca Cobb said the combination of the financial worries of the deceased, the written note on his life insurance documents, and the fact the gates to his workplace were locked, led her to believe he had intended to take his own life.