A star Treasury employee who killed herself was 'happy as Larry' until she became the victim of office gossip, her mother has said.

Chloe Moffat, 26, took her own life in May last year the day after being called into a disciplinary meeting over an anonymous complaint about her conduct.

A coroner on Tuesday found the Treasury had 'materially contributed' to her death by failing to reassure Ms Moffat she was unlikely to be fired.

Now her mother has revealed that Ms Moffat had been 'loving' the job and unaware she was about to receive a bonus when she was struck down by the 'vexatious' complaint.

Anna Moffat told The Times: 'She was so happy working there, absolutely happy. She was ready for a promotion and then there were some allegations made and Chloe denied them.

'We know what the allegations were about — it was no more than office gossip, I’m sure it was all vexatious, sadly. It wasn’t dealt with according to policy, as the coroner said.'

Anna said Ms Moffat, who had worked as a PA at the Treasury for three years, had just been awarded a bonus after her end-of-year review - but had not received the news.

She said emails from directors showed her daughter was highly regarded, and that her employment record was unblemished.

Ms Moffat, who had no history of mental illness, was summoned to a meeting with two managers on May 19 last year.

Present were her line manager, Kim Aldrich, and the head of global issues, Liz Farmer.

Ms Aldrich said Ms Moffat had asked for her best friend to accompany her in the meeting, but was told that would be 'inappropriate'.

Here she was informed of an anonymous allegation that she had shared sensitive confidential information about colleagues, which she denied.

Ms Moffat tearfully asked whether she would lose her job, but the more senior manager said she 'could not predict the outcome at this stage'.

Coroner Anna Crawford concluded Ms Moffat should have been told that, even if the allegations against her were proven, the likely sanction would have been a written warning rather than dismissal. 

She said that Ms Moffat's state of mind, fearing she would lose her job, likely contributed to her decision to kill herself.

After the meeting, Ms Moffat temporarily lost access to her director's email inbox and diary.

She was also advised not to speak to colleagues about the allegations and potential investigation.  

The inquest heard that after the meeting Ms Moffat sent a text message to a friend saying: 'I am going to be fired.'

The pair met up in central London where Ms Moffat 'broke down crying' and was 'incredibly concerned about the reputational impact' of the allegations.

The friend said she tried to reassure Ms Moffat but that she remained 'distressed'.

Ms Moffat, who lived in London, then returned to Godalming in Surrey to spend time with her parents.

She was found dead by her father on the morning of May 20, with her medical cause of death being given as hanging.

The inquest heard she had no mental health concerns prior to her death and that the previous day she had gone to work and had 'interactions with friends and colleagues'.   

Ms Crawford said: 'HM Treasury materially contributed to Ms Moffat's death by not applying their written Discipline Policy and Procedure in that they did not inform her that the likely penalty if the allegations were proven was a written warning and not dismissal.'

She said instead of calling Ms Moffat into the meeting – which was attended by her line manager Kim Aldrich and the head of global issues Liz Farmer – she should have been given details of the allegations in a letter.

The inquest heard the managers had followed the advice given to them by the HR department but that the complaint was not handled in accordance with company policy.

The hearing was told Treasury staff described the purpose of the meeting as an informal 'fact-finding' meeting – but internal emails showed they had already deemed the misconduct to be 'serious'.

Ms Crawford said she believed the real reason behind the meeting was to see if Ms Moffat would admit to the allegations so they could move forward with a formal disciplinary process.

The coroner said that before the meeting on May 19 'there was already sufficient information available' to determine the level of potential misconduct.

She said the meeting with Ms Moffat was therefore 'not in accordance with HR policy'.

The court also heard that where there are allegations of serious misconduct, it is necessary to 'put necessary safeguarding measures in place'.

The coroner added that these 'should have been in place for Chloe'.

Ms Crawford concluded that Ms Moffat's death was a suicide and that she was 'satisfied' she had intended to take her own life.

She said she would send a prevention of future deaths report to the Treasury and to the head of the civil service because there may be a 'wider issue' within Government.

Paying tribute to their daughter, Ms Moffat's parents previously said in a statement: 'Chloe was a bright, caring and talented young woman who loved her family, her friends and her work.

'She had an exemplary employment record, was highly regarded by those who worked with her, and had a promising future ahead of her.

'As her family, we remain immensely proud of everything she achieved in her short life.'

A Treasury spokesman said: 'We continue to mourn Chloe's passing as a colleague and friend. Our thoughts remain with her family and friends.

'We take the Coroner's concerns extremely seriously and recognise it is important to act quickly. We are now considering the findings carefully.

'We have introduced improvements to guidance, support and wellbeing arrangements but recognise we must continue to take action to prevent this happening again.'