The wife of a village parish councillor from Halwell has been named as the 67-year-old women who threw herself in to the path of a train at Totnes railway station earlier this month.

Linda Joan Dunham died beneath the train at Totnes on Friday, December 19, just 12 days after her 67th birthday, an inquest has been told.

She was married to Halwell parish councillor Stuart Dunham and the couple had lived at Crocadon Meadows in Halwell for about 10 years.

Halwell and Moreleigh Parish Council chairman Denis Treeby said the couple were a 'private family'.

He said he had been 'very surprised' to hear about Mrs Dunham's death, which he only heard about on Tuesday – the day after the inquest opened.

The inquest, opened before South Devon Coroner Ian Arrow at Torquay, revealed that Mr Dunham, a retired deputy clerk to the justices, had formally indentified the body of his wife on Christmas Eve.

Coroner's officer Steph­anie Teague told the inquest hearing: 'On Friday, December 19, 2014, Linda deliberately jumped from the railway platform at Totnes station into the path of an oncoming train.

'Notes indicating her intention to take her own life were found in her vehicle which was parked in the station car park.'

She said Mrs Dunham had died from 'multiple injuries' and added: 'There are no suspicious circumstances.'

Mrs Dunham was born in Harrow, Middlesex, and was a retired station clerk in the fire service.