A FORMER Mayor of Blandford died of an aggressive form of meningitis just two days after being diagnosed with an ear infection, an inquest heard.

Esme Butler, 61, went shopping to Tesco after being given ear drops at her GP surgery but was found deeply unconscious just a few hours later, Dorset Coroner Rachael Griffin was told.

The Bournemouth inquest heard Mrs Butler, a grandmother, did not have a high temperature when she visited Whitecliff Surgery in Blandford on May 15 last year but was suffering from a headache and ear pain.

She was found unconscious in an armchair at her Blandford home at 2.30am the following day and an ambulance was called. Poole Hospital’s lead consultant neurologist, Dr Ralph Gregory, told the inquest about the rapid progression of the disease.

He told the coroner: “She did not have meningitis when she was seen in the surgery. The infection burst into the brain. Her treatment was as prompt as was humanly possible.”

He said it is unlikely she would have survived if she had been given antibiotics earlier and added: “Even if she had survived she would have been severely disabled.”

And Dr Kenneth Power, a critical care consultant, said: “This was clearly a very rapidly-evolving process.” He described the meningitis as “aggressive.”

The inquest heard Mrs Butler, who had Type 2 diabetes, was seen by Nurse Practitioner Sharon Drummond when she went to the surgery.

Mrs Drummond told the inquest she diagnosed an outer ear infection and added: “She was alert and she was chatty.”

Mrs Butler’s husband, David, said his wife went to the supermarket before returning to their home. He said he went to bed leaving her downstairs.

When he got up to let one of their dogs out at 2.30am she was unconscious in the armchair and he called for an ambulance.

Mrs Butler died at Poole Hospital on May 17 from acute meningitis.

Mrs Griffin concluded that she died of natural causes.