A business studies graduate who died of a blood clot months after starting to take the combined pill was advised to ‘go for a spa day’ by her doctor after complaining of leg pain, an inquest heard.

Charlotte Foster, 23, was told to book in for a massage after visiting her GP three weeks before she died from a massive embolism in her lungs thought to have been caused by a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in her legs or pelvis.

Miss Foster, from Newport, Shropshire, collapsed at her work place on January 22 this year and died three days later at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital.

An inquest in Shrewsbury was told that Miss Foster's only risk factor for DVT was that she had been taking a combined oral contraceptive pill, Dianette, for around five months before her death.

Her mother, Cecilia, told the inquest that her daughter suffered from heart palpitations and had messaged her family on New Year's Eve to say her ribs hurt and that she couldn't lie down or breathe properly.