Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has been criticised for its eight-hour response time to a call about a woman who was discovered dead.

Professor Dr Alan Walsh was the coroner for an inquest into the death of Angeline Phillips on December 5.

The inquest at Bolton Coroner's Court heard how Ms Phillips, from Walkden, was discovered dead as a result of an overdose at her home address on Wilbraham Road in the early hours of January 30 two years ago.

READ MORE: Bolton: Inquest opens into tragic death of man at his home.

This was more than eight hours after GMP received a call from a friend of the 35-year-old, expressing concern in light of a lack of contact and explaining she was in and out of hospital after several suicide attempts.

The call handler categorised the incident as a grade two priority response, which indicated it should be allocated within 20 minutes and attended within one hour.

But a police sergeant said the incident was a medical matter and reported it to North West Ambulance Service instead.

Paramedics attended the home address of Ms Phillips, but there was no answer and the crew left for another incident.

It took until the early hours for officers to force entry and find Ms Phillips.

In a prevention of future deaths report addressed to Chief Constable Stephen Watson published this week, Professor Dr Walsh said: "The Greater Manchester Police Incident Response Policy makes no reference to an option to refer the incident to a third party, such as North West Ambulance Service, but there is no specific reference in the policy that the attendance must be by a police officer and that the responsibility to attend must not be passed to a third party or any other agency.

"I am concerned unless the Greater Manchester Police Incident Response Policy is reviewed police officers will not attend incidents within the timescales referred to in the policy and there will be an opportunity to pass the responsibility to third party agencies, which may lead to a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken."

READ MORE: Bolton: Work on coroner's court almost £200k over budget.

The chief constable has until February 15 to respond to Professor Dr Walsh.

The response must contain the details of all action to be taken, including a timetable. Otherwise, it must contain an explanation of why no action is to be taken.

A GMP spokesperson said: "GMP accepts the coroner’s findings and senior officers as well as subject matter experts will now be taking the time to review these findings and comments, to ensure that GMP is providing the best possible care to those the force comes into contact with, whilst preventing crime and keeping people safe."