A HAMPSHIRE man found hanging near a beauty spot was at the centre of a police investigation, it has been revealed.

Philip Egleton feared being sent to prison and was about to be served summons, an inquest heard.

The 48-year-old was discovered by passers-by in the car park at Farley Mount near Winchester.

Emergency services rushed to the scene off Sarum Road where paramedics were able to establish a heartbeat but he died a day later at Southampton General Hospital.

Rebecca Butcher, who discovered Mr Egleton, said: “I could see the male looking as if he was sat on a picnic bench. Parents with children started turning up but they could not get in to the car park.”

Winchester Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Egleton had been released under police investigation in May pending a decision about criminal prosecution. Details of the allegations were not revealed to the hearing.

A delivery driver for ASDA in Eastleigh, Mr Egleton had been told by his solicitor about a summons on the day of his death.

He attempted to contact mental health services at Antelope House in Southampton but was not able to reach anyone, and later they were unable to contact him.

Sheila Burton of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, said Mr Egleton had been known to them since 2014, and he had been supported by their acute mental health team.

“His anxiety and low mood were more situational rather than evidence of mental health problems,” she said.

When asked by Central Hampshire coroner Grahame Short whether Mr Egleton, of Chesil Street, Winchester, was suicidal, she said: “He did say, ‘I will not go to prison’.”

He recorded a conclusion of suicide.