A coroner has raised concerns more must be done to protect people from internet dating scams after a lonely bachelor killed himself following being fleeced of thousands of pounds by fraudsters posing as potential girlfriends.

Ian Doney, 51, sent money and paid for flights after believing he had met one girlfriend online and she was travelling to the UK.

After he spent all day waiting fruitlessly at the airport, he went on to give more money for medical bills because he was told her visit had been prevented by an accident.

The shopworker from Grimsby in Lincolnshire was so desperate for happiness he resorted to starving himself so he could afford to meet the incessant demands of his online "partners".

An inquest on Friday heard Mr Doney was unable to separate fact from fiction and even changed his Facebook status to in a relationship.

He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act after repeatedly trying to take his own life which a coroner said stemmed "from these really unfortunate relationships with fraudsters".

He was finally found dead at his home and died penniless.