AN elderly woman found near the back door of her fire-ravaged home in Collingbourne Woods last April was probably trying to escape when she was overcome by the inferno.

But an inquest at Salisbury on Monday heard 92-year-old Winifred Bourne, who lived alone, would have died quickly from the fumes.

She was identified by a wedding ring after her badly burned body was discovered in the charred ruins of the house where she had spent much of her life.

A detailed probe by fire experts had failed to pinpoint the precise cause of the fire which swept through the house at Woods Farm in Collingbourne Woods near Ludgershall.

Wiltshire Coroner David Masters said it probably started after she came downstairs in the early hours of the morning to make herself a drink.

She died from carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of smoke inhalation.

He thought something may have fallen onto a hot surface and smouldered until it caught fire or there could have been a fault in some item of electrical equipment.

Mr Masters said he could not decide which of those most likely scenarios was responsible for the fire which started in the kitchen.

"But all the evidence points to a tragic accident," he said.

The inquest at Salisbury heard that fire engulfed the entire building and roof and fire fighters could do little but contain the blaze.

Mr Master recorded a verdict of accidental death.