A man who worked with homeless people in Oxford hanged himself because he was suffering from depression, an inquest heard.

Julian Earle, 37, a resettlement worker at Church Housing in Oxford, was found hanging from a rope in his bedroom at Chester Street, Oxford, on June 26 this year.

He was living in the shared house with his former girlfriend Alex Keen. They split up a month before his death and he had been looking for somewhere else to live.

Miss Keen told Oxford Coroner's Court on October 23 Mr Earle had discussed suicidal thoughts with her the night before he died. She said: "He was really upset and said he thought it would be terrible for his mother, for me and other people. We talked about it for while and he was going to go and see the doctor the next day."

Miss Keen, of Chester Street, said that she checked on him the next morning and he seemed quiet.

When she returned home that evening she found a note in the hallway instructing her to call an ambulance.

When the paramedics arrived, they forced open the door of his bedroom, which was locked and fastened with a rope, and found Mr Earle's body hanging from a rope around his neck.

His GP Dr Rachel Butler, of St Bartholomews Medical Centre, Manzil Way, said Mr Earle had low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts, and had discussed jumping off the top of Cowley car park.

She said he had been feeling much brighter at the beginning of the year while taking anti-depressants and was planning to reduce his work stress.

Oxford Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict that he took his own life by hanging himself.