AN inquest has been opened into the death of Aintree chairman Rose Paterson, who died aged 63 last week near her Shropshire home.

The hearing was told her body was found in a search of woodland after her husband, the Conservative MP Owen Paterson, had called police.

He contacted officers on the evening of June 23 after she had not been seen since about 22:00hrs BST the previous day.

Police say there are no suspicious circumstances regarding the death.

In a statement on June 24, Owen Paterson said the loss of his wife had come as a “terrible shock” to the family. A cause of death has not been given.

“Rose and I were married for 40 happy years. She was a wonderful, caring wife, mother and grandmother,” he said.

The couple married in 1980 and had two sons and a daughter.

A minute’s silence has been held at race meetings in her memory and that of Grand National-winning jockey Liam Treadwell, whose death was announced on June 24.

Rose Paterson, the daughter of the fourth Viscount Ridley, was on the main board of stewards at the Jockey Club, which owns Aintree Racecourse, home of the Grand National, and other leading tracks including Cheltenham.

She was appointed chairman of Aintree in 2014, having been a racecourse committee director there since 2005.

Her husband is MP for North Shropshire and a former Northern Ireland secretary. The inquest was opened and adjourned until September 22. (BBC Sport)