BOLTON coroner Martin Coppel has resigned on health grounds, it has been confirmed.

Mr Coppel, who is believed to be suffering from Parkinson's disease, had been on sick leave for three months.

As reported in the BEN, speculation had been mounting about the 61-year-old's future.

Senior council sources acknowledged that he might be forced to retire through ill health and he tendered his resignation on Friday.

Peter Wilson, director of central services at Bolton which is responsible for appointing a coroner, confirmed that Mr Coppel had stepped down.

He said: "We are very sorry that he had to retire in these circumstances but clearly it was the appropriate course for him to do so."

Mr Coppel's deputy Simon Nelson will now become acting coroner prior to the permanent post being nationally advertised within the next fortnight.

In the mean time assistant deputy coroners from nearby towns will continue to fill in as they have during Mr Coppel's absence.

The council denied that any backlog had been caused by the measures.

But one family who contacted the BEN claim they have faced an agonising wait for their dead father's affairs to be tied up.

"What the council is saying about there being no backlog is not strictly true," said the daughter. "We cancelled a holiday because we were told the inquest would be in July but it keeps being delayed.

"We haven't been able to sort out all the paperwork because you cannot get a death certificate until there has been an inquest."

Mr Coppel, 61, was Bolton coroner for seven years, a role which includes presiding at inquests in Leigh, Wigan and Salford. He had previously spent two years as an assistant coroner in Manchester.

Originally from Belfast, he trained as a solicitor and worked successfully for practices in the Ulster capital, Manchester and Sale.

By law coroners must have served at least five years as a barrister, solicitor or doctor and posts are usually hotly-sought after.