A MAN whose soiled, naked body was found in his car outside a fast-food outlet died from natural causes, an inquest heard.

Kenneth Poune, 61, was found in the car park of the Garston branch of McDonald's, in St Albans Road, stretched over the front seats of his gold-coloured Rover, on Sunday, October 15, last year.

Reportedly, Mr Poune, a taxi driver, had been on his way to Heathrow Airport to pick people up on the preceding Friday and had stopped in Watford after starting to feel ill.

Assistant coroner for Hertfordshire Frances Cranfield read part of a statement from Mr Poune's ex-wife and business partner, Tessa Poune, explaining that she travelled to Watford after being called by Mr Poune.

It said: "I met him at McDonald's. It looked as if he had been sick."

After getting the details of the job from Mr Poune, she left him at around 10.40am, to go to Heathrow and pick up the passengers.

The inquest heard Ms Poune spoke to her ex-husband by mobile phone for the last time at 3.40pm.

He told her he was still feeling unwell and would stay where he was until he felt better.

She tried to call him again a number of times, but there was no answer.

The statement said: "On the Saturday, I was in a state of panic."

She called the police but, unfortunately, did not identify the correct McDonald's outlet to them.

Jennifer Challenger, who took the call to Hertfordshire Constabulary, told the inquest she contacted a branch in Elton Way after speaking to Ms Poune, and got the manager to check the car park and premises. Unsurprisingly, no sign of Mr Poune was found.

The following day, Mr Poune's body was found in his car in the car park of the St Albans Road branch. His soiled clothes were in the back of the car.

Post mortem tests revealed Mr Poune died from diabetic ketoacidosis, a fatal condition caused by an extreme lack of insulin in the body.

He had previously suffered persistent health problems due to his diabetes, including the amputation of part of his left leg.

Ms Cranfield recorded a verdict of death by natural causes, noting Mr Poune had a history of controlling his diabetes poorly.

Although it is not known how he came to be naked, people with diabetic ketoacidosis can experience a state of acute confusion.

Hertfordshire Constabulary's Vanessa Lye said: "In her summing up, the coroner stated Ms Challenger and Ms Poune had done their very best to identify the location of this incident. It is unfortunate that despite our best efforts it was unsuccessful."