A CARER found dead on the back seat of her car had taken an overdose of morphine prescribed to someone else, an inquest heard.

Leona McCubbin was found unresponsive when a parking attendant checked her car in a public car park on the clifftop at Southbourne, Dorset Coroner Rachael Griffin was told.

The Bournemouth inquest heard the 33-year-old had been sleeping in her car between live-in carer jobs after moving out of her Poole home when she split up with a long-term partner.

The inquest heard there were two bottles of liquid morphine in the car, one only a quarter full, prescribed to another woman.

Inquiries have failed to reveal a link between Miss McCubbin and the woman to whom the drugs were prescribed.

The coroner was told Miss McCubbin's grey Renault Megane was parked in the Warren Edge car park in Southbourne Coast Road on the afternoon of Saturday August 3 last year.

BCP Council civil enforcement officer Nicholas Bessant initially thought Miss McCubbin was asleep when he approached the car to check if it had a ticket.

He knocked on the window but she did not respond so he alerted emergency services.

A post mortem examination revealed a blood morphine level of 3.88 milligrams per litre - the therapeutic level is 0.12.

The inquest heard Miss McCubbin was born in Irvine in Scotland and moved to Bournemouth to work in hotels and in the care industry as a young adult.

She had lived in Poole with a long-term partner but at the time of her death was of no fixed address. Miss McCubbin had also worked for Poole-based WNA Healthcare.

A police investigation revealed Miss McCubbin's car was locked with the keys inside and that there was no third party involvement or suspicious circumstances.

Mrs Griffin recorded a conclusion that Miss McCubbin died as the result of misadventure, meaning that her death was the unintended consequence of an intended act, namely consuming the morphine. She said she was not satisfied that she intended to take her own life.

"It is clear that she was going through a difficult time but she was intending to return home to those who loved and supported her."

Miss McCubbin's father, Neil, added: "She was a very kind, loving person. She would give money away to homeless people on the streets."