The woman in charge of north Cumbria's hospitals at the time two people died while receiving treatment has given evidence at their inquest.

Previous hearings have heard how 40-year-old Michael Parke, from Cockermouth, and Amanda Coulthard, 57, from Penrith, both died from pneumonia after nasogastric tubes were incorrectly inserted into their lungs, rather than their stomach.

They were both patients within the North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust: Mr Parke at the West Cumberland Hospital in 2012 and Mrs Coulthard in Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary last year.

During day 11 of the inquest, Ann Farrar, who served as interim chief executive of the trust from September 2012 until she stepped down in January this year, gave evidence.

Mr Parke's death prompted a police investigation, meaning internal investigations within the trust had to be postponed.

When asked by coroner David Roberts whether the "serious untoward incident" inquiry was reopened by the trust after the police probe had concluded, Mrs Farrar said: "I honestly can't recall.

"It was a very complicated situation in terms of the police and lawyers. I can't recall. If it had to be initiated again it would've been."

However, Mr Roberts responded: "I'm not aware that one was. I haven't been presented with any information that one was."

While giving evidence Mrs Farrar praised the work of Chris Platton, then director of nursing at the trust, for taking the incident "very seriously" saying she took immediate action to make sure services were safe in the days and weeks after the incident.

Before leaving the inquest she offered her sympathy to both families.

Earlier in the day Dr Christopher Flucker, who had been a clinical director at the Cumberland Infirmary but did not hold a management position at the time of Mr Parke's death, gave his account of proceedings at the time.

He said he was frustrated that a meeting, which he had been asked to chair, to find out more information about Mr Parke's death had been cancelled at short notice.

"The investigation needed to be done urgently," he said. "I was really concerned that we had been through a police investigation... and the similar parallels that a similar thing was going to happen."

The death of 81-year-old Ronald Smith at the infirmary had been investigated prior to Mr Parke's death.

"The situation was in both cases the X-rays had been misinterpreted.

My concern about the X-rays was that it could be interpreted as a re-run.

"My real concern was that this was a serious incident and it needed to be done in a timely fashion."

The inquest, held at County Hall in Kendal, continues.