A fire in the home of an elderly woman who was rescued from her burning flat by her neighbours was probably started by a candle, an inquest has heard.
Gwen Pryce, 86, was rescued by Ted Hughes, 71 and Brian Davies, 59, from her flat in Pelham Road, Upton Magna, after her family discovered the fire. She was found unconscious in her bathroom on February 5,
Miss Pryce died at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital two days later of aspiration pneumonia partly due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
John Ellery, the coroner for mid and north Shropshire, recorded a verdict of accidental death.
The inquest heard how Miss Pryce had been in a nursing home after a stay in hospital following a fall but she begged son Brian Pryce to allow her to go back to her home. She came back on February 3 - just two days before the fire.
On the day of the fire, Mr Pryce visited his mother and saw she had been using candles. The inquest heard how he put a box of matches out of reach on a high shelf and warned his mother about the dangers of leaving candles unattended.
Later her granddaughter Jacque Brenton, who lives in the flat next-door-but-one smelt smoke and discovered her grandmother’s flat on fire.
Mr Ellery said the fire started on a book case where a portable television was in use.
He said Miss Pryce, a grandmother-of-seven and also a great grandmother, was believed to be suffering from memory loss or the early stages of dementia.
He said: “Most probably the cause of the fire was down to the careless use of a candle.”
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Pryce said: “She was a brilliant mother. She idolised all her grandchildren. She had a good life- it’s just a shame it ended like that. It gives us some comfort that she died at home where she wanted to be.”
Mrs Brenton said her grandmother’s house was still in a burnt-out state and said her daughter Lottie, nine, found it difficult to walk past it every day.
But a spokeswoman for Severnside Housing said work was being carried out.
“Severnside have had the property professionally cleaned as there was drastic smoke damage throughout and the property has been cleared and next on the list will be a rewire and then entire refurbishment and redecoration.”
By Rebecca Lawrence
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