THE death of an elderly Burtonwood woman following a blaze at her home has been ruled an accident.

However, the mystery of how her front door came to be opened on the morning of the fire remains unsolved.

Theresa Robinson, aged 83, from Haley Road South, died on December 6 last year at Warrington Hospital, two days after the blaze.

A statement from her neighbour Joseph Clarkin, read out at Warrington Coroner's Court on Monday, said: "I tried to kick the door down but it would not budge. I saw the care worker pull up in her car. I said to her "Have you got the key?" She inserted the key and opened the door."

However, Iris Sterricker, Mrs Robinson's care assistant, said that the first thing that struck her was that the door was already open.

She said: "We walked into the house and to the sitting room door but it was stiff to push. We opened it a little bit and could see smoke coming out from underneath by this time.

"The smoke was very bad so we left it until the fire brigade came."

Mrs Sterricker said that she had no recollection of unlocking the door.

Fire crews at the scene found Mrs Robinson lying face down in the sitting room.

She was taken to hospital, but did not regain consciousness before she died.

Assistant divisional officer Andrew Quayle, from Warrington Fire Station, said it was likely that a chair in the room was the source of the blaze, and a cigarette the most likely cause. He said it was impossible to say whether the incident was arson, but that it was very hard to start a 'smouldering' fire.

A post mortem examination concluded that Mrs Robinson, who was a smoker, died from burns.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Cheshire coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said: "One puzzling element was the fact that the front door was found opened when the principal rescuers arrived. We are still left with conflicting evidence, though I think the most likely explanation is that Mrs Sterricker was mistaken."

He added: "It is a mystery, it hasn't been cleared up in any 100 per cent satisfactory way, but I am comfortable by the evidence by ADO Quayle to the effect that in his opinion the fire was accidental in origin."