INVESTIGATORS were unable to establish how a house fire that killed a Netherton pensioner started, an inquest was told.

The body of 67-year-old Gillian Rita Howard was found in the front room of her Spring Road property on May 19.

The Black Country Coroners Court, sitting at Oldbury today (Thursday), heard that Mrs Howard had restricted mobility due to a spinal injury and was also being treated for breast cancer.

The fire had started in Mrs Howard's converted ground floor bedroom, which she shared with her daughter and primary carer, Nicola.

Miss Howard told the inquest that she had been woken by a smoke alarm going off at around 7.30am and she had seen flames in the corner of the room.

"I was in a panic, I screamed at my mom and grabbed my phone and ran to the front door to call the fire brigade," she said.

Miss Howard said the fire then prevented her from getting back into the front room and she could only recall hearing her mother scream once.

She told the inquest that she could not think of anything that had started the fire, as nothing had been plugged in or left to charge overnight.

Lee Richards, the fire officer who investigated the blaze, said after an extensive search of the property, nothing that could have caused the fire was found in the area of origin.

He said specially trained fire dogs had examined the room for flammable liquid and found nothing, adding that although there was no clear evidence, the only explanation was that the fire had been started by a naked flame.

The inquest was told that West Midlands Police officers found no signs of an intrusion and were not treating the fire as suspicious.

Assistant coroner, Angus Smillie, said the results of a post-mortem revealed Mrs Howard had died after inhaling the products of combustion.

He continued: "Gillian was not able to get out herself and no one was able to access the property to rescue her. She was pronounced dead at 7.50am.

"An investigation by the police and fire service found the source of the fire was a naked flame although when and how that came about is unclear."

Mr Smillie concluded Mrs Howard's death was accidental.