A DEVOTED couple who could not bear to live without each other took their own lives in a suicide pact after reading a guide on how to kill themselves.

James and Hilda Bedell drank whisky before tying plastic bags around their heads with elastic bands.

They suffocated by each other's side in bed as music played.

The loving couple had meticulously planned their final act for years, acting when both feared for their failing health.

They left notes for family, friends and neighbours to find in the quiet cul-de-sac of Pelham Place, York, where they had lived for 21 years.

They also left behind a manual on the kitchen table, graphically detailing how they would kill themselves.

Yesterday, the publication was condemned by a coroner as "a shameful book".

The bodies of war veteran and retired milkman Mr Bedell, 81, and former teacher Mrs Bedell, 76, were found on October 23, 2006, by neighbour Janet Wardell, who said it was no secret that they intended to die together.

In a statement read out at the York inquest, Mrs Wardell said: "They had long said they would commit suicide and it was a well-known fact between their family and friends."

And in another statement, the couple's son, Andrew, said: "Some years ago, they made it clear that they did not want to lose their quality of life and end up being nursed in a hospital or a home."

The inquest heard that Mr Bedell, a former RAF gunner, had been treated for anxiety, and his loss of balance and trembling hands may have been signs of Parkinsons Disease - although they were more likely to have been due to a benign tremor, Meanwhile, Mrs Bedell's arthritis and osteoporosis had worsened in the months before she died.

The coroner, Donald Coverdale, recorded a verdict of suicide in both cases.

He described the book, which the couple used to plan their suicide as "shameful, offensive and irresponsible".

"People in pain and distress need comfort and support - not encouragement to destroy their lives," he said.

"James and Hilda Bedell had apparently taken many steps to minimise the upset to their family and friends upon discovering their death, but I have no doubt the event will have caused the greatest distress to those who knew them.

"In this day and age, the ending of one's life because of a painful condition can hardly be justified, particularly when the support of the medical profession and a wide variety of medication and the support of close family members, not to mention close friends are also readily available."