The last resident in a block of flats due to be demolished cut his own head off with a chainsaw to highlight the 'injustice' of being asked to move out, an inquest heard today.

Desperate David Phyall, 50, plugged the electric chainsaw into the mains and attached a timer to the socket.

He then wrapped sellotape around the machine's trigger to secure it in the 'on' position and tied the handle of the saw to a table leg to hold it steady.

Mr Phyall rested the saw on his neck and waited for the timer to go off.

The Black and Decker chainsaw sliced through his neck in an instant but kept going for a further 15 minutes.

Police and paramedics found his blood-soaked body at the flat in Bishopstoke, near Southampton, Hampshire, after his father John raised the alarm.

Mr Phyall was the last resident living in an area marked for a mass redevelopment and all 71 surrounding flats were empty.

The inquest heard Mr Phyall, who had lived in the 1960s flat for eight years, was the last resident in the block and had resisted 11 offers of a new home.

The inquest in Winchester, Hampshire, today heard that on July 5 this year Sergeant Mark Carter was called to the flat after Mr Phyall's parents found it was locked from the inside.

Sgt Carter told the inquest he broke into the flat using a crowbar before making his way to the lounge where he found Mr Phyall's body dressed in underpants and a T-shirt.

He said: 'The carpet was covered by a layer of blood and the ceiling above my head was also splattered with blood.

'I could see an electric chainsaw embedded in the man's neck - the blade was three quarters of the way through his neck.

'The handle of the chainsaw had been tied by white string to a table leg and the trigger had been tied up by sellotape.

'The lead was connected to a timer switch which was plugged into the wall.

'I have never come across an incident quite this graphic.'

Detective Sergeant Mark Huxford told the hearing: 'The head was still attached by the right shoulder and his head was lying to the left.

'A large area of carpet had blood splattered all over it because of the way the Black and Decker chainsaw had been spinning around.'

Mr Phyall's father John Phyall told the hearing he had no idea his son had any plans to harm himself.

He added: 'We had seen him a week prior to his death and he had appeared cheerful and had been making jokes. His death was totally unexpected.'

It is believed Mr Phyall killed himself two days before his body was found.

The inquest heard that on April 18 a letter was sent to all residents of the block by First Wessex Housing Group Ltd saying the building would be demolished.

However, Mr Phyall refused to leave his one-bedroom flat and had been taken to court by the housing association.

Two weeks before his death First Wessex Housing Group had been awarded possession of the flat giving them legal entitlement to evict him.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Deputy Central Hampshire Simon Burge said Mr Phyall had killed himself in a bid to 'make a statement'.

He said: 'The scene was clearly an appalling one.

'In the 15 years I have been sitting as deputy coroner it is the most bizarre case I have seen.

'Mr Phyall had thought through how he was going to commit suicide very carefully - he went to a great deal of trouble to rig up the chainsaw knowing full well the result would be fatal.

'It was death in the most dramatic way imaginable.

'I find he did so to draw attention to the injustice he felt at being asked to move out of his flat.'