An inquest has opened into the death by hanging of a 25-year old woman from Newton Abbot.

Torbay-born Rhianna Nicholls, was discovered dead on March 17 at holiday accommodation in northern Cyprus during a family holiday.

The tragedy was covered by the Cypriot press, revealing circumstances of a hanging at a bungalow in Iskele in the northern part of the island.

But the inquest opening in Plymouth heard that single Rhianna, a healthcare assistant of Highweek Road, died at Lefkosia, Nicosia, the island’s capital.

Coroner’s officer Lynn Halley said Rhianna had taken a holiday with her mother. She had been in the process of moving back to her mother’s home ‘due to her deteriorating mental health’.

She added: ‘Rhianna’s mother found her daughter and she appeared to have taken her own life.’

The cause of death was given as asphyxiation.

The funeral for Rhianna, described as a ‘bright and colourful’ personality, is on Monday at Torquay Crematorium followed by a ‘wake’ at Kingsteignton’s Ten Tors Inn.

A full inquest for Rhianna will be held later in the year.