A CLITHEROE woman may have collapsed with a severe headache and dropped the cigarette thought to have caused the house fire that killed her, an inquest heard.

Pauline Stannard, 45, had complained of suffering painful headaches in the weeks before her death and had been to the emergency department at Clitheroe Hospital where she was diagnosed as suffering from migraines, only days before her death in the blaze at her Lime Street home, the inquest at Ribble Valley Town Hall was told.

It was initially thought faulty Christmas lights were to blame for the blaze.

A post mortem examination, carried out by Dr John Rutherford, revealed Mrs Stannard, who had suffered from depression and alcoholism, had swelling and bleeding to her brain which may have caused her to collapse.

Tests revealed she had no alcohol in her blood and that she had died from inhaling smoke and fumes from the furniture burning around her.

Mrs Stannard died in the blaze on December 9 last year.

Smoke coming from the living room awoke her children Jack, 15, and Kathleen, 12.

Jack had managed to rescue his sister with the help of neighbour Jason Faulker, but both had been beaten back by flames while trying to reach Mrs Stannard.

Mrs Stannard's daughter Sharon Saunders, of Calder Avenue, Billington, has been caring for her younger brother and sister since the fire on December 9 last year.

Her two other children still live in Clitheroe.

She said her mother had not been drinking or smoking heavily in the weeks leading up to her death, but had complained of severe headaches.

She added: "She had been given painkillers for migraines and she said the headaches were getting better."

Mrs Saunders told the inquest she believed the fire had been caused by an electrical fault, as her mother had complained to her landlord, St Vincent's Housing Association, on several occasions about faulty light fittings, the last incident being just two days before her death.

But Lancashire Fire and Rescue accident investigator Peter Ashworth, said thorough investigations into the blaze revealed faults found with the electrics were a result of the fire not its cause.

He said: "The fire had been a slow burner, which meant it had been burning away for several hours before it ignited further. Investigations showed the seat of the fire was in the corner of a chair in front of the living room window, as damage to the ceiling above the chair was the most serious.

"Our tests ruled out the Christmas lights around the window, an electrical fault or a deliberate attempt to start a fire as the cause. It is most likely that a cigarette was dropped on to the chair causing a slow burning fire."

He added: "We also discovered that a smoke detector, which had been checked in March last year, had had its battery removed.

"Had it still been in place and had the house had sprinklers this tragedy could well have been avoided."

Both Mrs Saunders and her brother Jack Stannard told the inquest their mother smoked around 20 cigarettes a day, but said they could not believe she had been sitting in the chair as she always favoured the sofa, on which she often slept.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley coroner Michael Singleton said: "I would like to stress the importance of having up to standard smoke detectors in the home and I would like to encourage people to have them fitted and to continue to have them serviced regularly.

"It seems to me that modest precautions could save lives.