POLICE have decided to take no further action in the case of an Appleby farmer who died of an infection after a Penrith hospital failed to treat him with antibiotics.

Joseph Bell, 82, who lived at Street house, Bolton, Appleby, died at Cumberland Royal Infirmary in August, 1999, from a gangrene infection caused by clostridium - a bacterium commonly found on farms.

Before being transferred to Cumberland Royal Infirmary, Mr Bell was treated for head wound at Penrith Hospital after he fell from his tractor.

A coroner's inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death, but police launched an investigation after it later emerged that Mr Bell had not been treated with infection-fighting antibiotics after his fall.

Antibiotics would normally be administered as a matter of course.

After the investigation, in which police took independent medical advice, it was concluded that there had been no criminal offences and that no further action was necessary in relation to Mr Bell's death.

Chris Humphris, acting as chief executive of North Lakes Healthcare Trust which runs the hospital, said he could not comment on the inquiry, but said: "We are obviously content with that decision."