A classic car enthusiast and his partner died after being exposed to carbon monoxide at their garage in High Seaton, an inquest heard.

William Nixon Reid, 67, and Kathryn Rhona Workman, 70, died after an incident near their home on October 22, 2017.

The inquest in Cockermouth heard that Mr Reid had collected and restored classic cars for years and had recently acquired a Mercedes from the United States.

He was in the garage next to the couple’s home, reversing the car into a large plastic bag to protect the vehicle during the winter, when he was overcome by carbon monoxide.

Ms Workman had entered the bag in a bid to help her partner but was also affected by the fumes, although she was able to crawl back out and call the emergency services.

Detective Sergeant Martin Hodgson, who investigated the incident for Cumbria Police, said the bag was one you would “definitely struggle” to tear open.

While Ms Workman was on the phone for several minutes, confusion about what was happening in the garage led to the operator advising her to go back into the bag to try to treat Mr Reid. She told the operator it was an accident - and not an attempt to take their own lives.

She tried to wake her partner but was unable to and shortly after she stopped responding on the call.

The North West Ambulance Service was dispatched at 12.01pm, with paramedic Ben Sayner first on the scene.

He explored the property but due to the unusual location of the garage, which was below road level at the bottom of a slope and attached to the house next door, it was not until his partner arrived that they discovered the unconscious couple in the garage.

Mr Sayner said: “We ripped the bag open and there was a very strong smell of fumes so we ran out.”

The paramedics opened as many doors as they could before going back into the garage to rescue Ms Workman, although Mr Reid was deemed to be too far into the bag to reach without breathing equipment.

Coroner Simon Ward commended the pair for carrying Ms Workman out of the garage so she could be treated.

He said: “It’s quite heroic what you did.”

Ms Workman was then taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she died two days later.

It was not until the Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service arrived that emergency services could get to Mr Reid, who was removed from the bag and treated but was pronounced dead at the scene at 1.13pm.

Transcripts of the calls made between the emergency services and Ms Workman were read out and revealed that the operator had advised Ms Workman to try to get as close to her partner as possible and lie him on his back.

A system error had led to the first attempt to alert the fire service being inadvertently cancelled.

However, an investigation carried out by the ambulance service found that the operator’s decision had been “accepted as reasonable”.

This was because it was felt that they could not have known this would place Ms Workman in a hazardous environment due to the confusing language used to describe the situation.

The report said: “A number of errors were made during the initial 999 call.”

The inquest continues today.