A coroner at Northampton General Hospital heard that tensions over the two noisy Alsatians had been simmering days before the incident.

Chad Vu and his girlfriend Rachel Knight, whose baby was being kept awake by the animals, had complained about the barking dogs, which were owned by the Ayres family.

After asking the family to keep their dogs indoors, the issue flared up on April 8 last year, outside their homes in Towcester Road, Far Cotton, when Percy Ayres, aged 60, went at Mr Vu with a stick.

Mr Vu, a doorman, told the inquest how he had tried to reason with Mr Ayres, but could not calm him down.

He said: "I grabbed the stick as Percy tried to hit me, then Percy started swinging punches."

Mr Vu said he and Mr Ayres' wife had urged him to calm down, but Mr Ayres then fainted and hit his head as he fell.

Mr Vu did not lash out at Mr Ayres during the incident, and tried to come to his neighbour's aid by giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

A post mortem revealed Mr Ayres had a history of heart disease and found the cause of the death was "severe heart disease" brought on by stress.

Mr Vu said: "I am saddened by what happened which could have been easily prevented."

The incident happened as Mr Vu had arrived back from work at about 11.30pm. Mr Vu had previously spoken with Mr Ayres and his son Christian Ayres about the dogs after Miss Knight had complained about the noise.

Coroner Anne Pember recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.