Peter Williams, 63, stood in front of a train in February after he had been pursued relentlessly by lawyers over the debt for 16 years.

The council refused to drop the case despite efforts by Mr Williams’s MP, doctor and friends to stop it ­because of his poor mental health.

Mr Williams, of Langford, ­Bedford, died at Biggleswade months before his Vortex device was in the ­Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most energy efficient hand dryer.

His suicide note said he could not face losing his home, stating: “I have had enough and cannot stand any more of the mental turmoil.”

He implored his friends to make “most public” his case “against the council and the system”. An inquest was opened and adjourned on Tuesday. Mental health barrister Laura Davidson agreed to represent his family without charge.