Mayor's attendant, 79, was misdiagnosed at Blackpool Victoria Hospital before fatal heart attack

A long-serving mayor’s attendant and special constable who died following a heart attack was misdiagnosed at triage when he initially presented at Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s emergency department with pain in his arms, an inquest heard.

Peter Hutton’s cause of death was found at a postmortem conducted by pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd to be hemoperacardium - blood in the sac around the heart.

It had resulted from a ruptured myocardial infarction, or cardiac rupture, a rare complication where the heart muscle tears or bursts, some days after a heart attack.

Triage nurse Francis Chan told the inquest that when Mr Hutton presented at the emergency department with bilateral arm pain, his initial assessment was that it was musculoskelatal pain with a neurological cause.

He admitted he had not consulted Mr Hutton’s medical records and was unaware at the time that he was diabetic - a condition that can lead to "silent" or atypical heart attacks because nerve damage can block typical severe chest pain.

Mr Hutton, who was an MBE, died at the hospital on December 12 last year, after which tributes poured in.

As Wyre mayor’s attendant, he was a familiar figure at mayoral functions over many years and also long served as a Special Constable with Lancashire Police, heading the county’s unit for many years.

It was in that capacity that he was awarded the MBE in 2001, attending the ceremony at Buckingham Palace with his wife and children.

Born in Preston, Mr Hutton grew up in Cleveleys and lived in Fleetwood, also playing a key role in establishing the Cleveleys Community Church at the former Beach Road Primary School on Kensington Road.

He was also a businessman, running a number of garages in Fleetwood, and a school governor at Larkholme Primary School in Fleetwood.

He had been married to his wife Paula since 1996 and the couple had four children together - Naomi, Bethany, Hannah and Samuel - in addition to Mr Hutton’s older children Joanna and Simon and Paula’s older children, Peter and Jason.

Mr Hutton also left five grandchildren.

Paula said at the time of his death: “ I can honestly say that nothing was ever too much trouble for Peter, he was a real gentleman but was always down to earth.

“He was a confident person but did not like to be the centre of attention - he was modest and the sort of person who liked to build other people up and make them feel confident and at ease.”

In more than three decades with the Special Constabulary, Mr Hutton moved through the ranks to become a divisional officer, and had 26 officers under his control covering the whole of Wyre at the time of his MBE award.

Cllr Steve Nichollas, who was mayor of Wyre at the time of Mr Hutton’s death, said at the time: “He was a tough, fair and compassionate man who is missed by all of us at the Civic Centre.”

In a message on its social media page, Cleveleys Community Church posted: “Peter was a pillar in the church and the community for many years and will be greatly missed.”

The inquest was adjourned and is scheduled to resume on Thursday, September 3 at 2.30pm.