A seemingly fit and healthy woman died after collapsing in a Bricket Wood pub, a court heard yesterday.

Mary-Ann Carr, 37, had gone with her step-father to The Black Boy, in Old Watford Road, on the afternoon of Sunday, August 22 this year.

Hatfield Coroners’ Court heard yesterday how she had just returned from the bar with a round of drinks and sat down when she appeared to faint.

Coroner Edward Thomas explained that Mrs Carr had been a regular gym goer but did have a slight fault with a valve in her heart.

He explained how this pre-diagnosed problem had led suddenly to severe arrhythmia and a cardiac arrest. Mrs Carr, formerly of The Harebreaks, Watford, was rushed by ambulance to Watford General Hospital but declared dead later that day.