An investigation is underway following the death of a Cumbrian pensioner.

Elizabeth Melville, of Bank Lane, Egremont, died at Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary on December 6 - more than a month after being admitted with severe stomach pains.

Her husband believes her life could have been saved if a mass of ulcers that needed urgent surgery had been found earlier.

Reg Melville has submitted a formal complaint, accusing hospital bosses of neglect.

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust said an investigation is now underway to identify exactly what happened.

Mr Melville said although in a lot of discomfort, she was well enough to walk into the ambulance on October 30. He never imagined that she would never return home from the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

"Later that day she rang me to tell me they were transferring her to Carlisle. She seemed fine," he said.

Not overly alarmed, Mr Melville said he arranged to visit the following day. "Later that day I was called by the intensive care unit to say my wife was seriously ill," he said.

Mr Melville said he and his son went straight through to Carlisle, where they saw and spoke to his wife.

"We were told to wait in the waiting room. After an hour a doctor came in and told us she would not survive," he said.

Mr Melville said they were later told she had an E.coli infection and she was put on life support. The following day, after tests, they were given fresh hope that they had the drugs to treat it.

But after that, he claims they kept being told she would have organ damage and asked for permission to turn off life support.

Mr Melville refused, believing she could be saved. He claims no efforts were made to identify the reason she wasn't waking up. He said he consulted the family GP, who intervened.

Mr Melville said as time went on, his wife was starting to respond and react. They asked if she could be transferred back to the West Cumberland Hospital, which happened on November 17.

He said it was only in Whitehaven that staff identified there was something else wrong, and arranged an urgent scan.

"They found a mass of ulcers. This was most likely why she was not waking up. This was missed by Carlisle after 17 days in their care," he said.

Mrs Melville was immediately transferred back to Carlisle for surgery.

He believes she may have survived if this had happened sooner.

She never fully recovered and died weeks later.

Mr Melville added: "I had loved this lady for 48 years and was giving her every opportunity to live.

"It was only in Whitehaven that staff thought to look for the reason she wasn't waking up. And they want to remove services from Whitehaven and move everything to Carlisle."

A North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust spokeswoman said: “The trust wishes to express our sincere condolences. We have received correspondence from Mr Melville and we will be liaising with him directly following our investigation into his concerns.”