A GRANDMOTHER died in a house fire which could have started from her smoking in her bedroom, a coroner has ruled.

Rosemary Ashley died at her home in Brynards Hill, Royal Wootton Bassett, in the early hours of June 9.

Mrs Ashley, 70, lived at the house with her husband Brian, who is known by his middle name Viv, who managed to escape the blaze which started in a first-floor bedroom.

At her inquest in Salisbury on today, the coroner's court heard a statement from Mr Ashley who was first alerted to the blaze when a fire alarm at the home started to go off around 3.30am.

He last saw his wife the afternoon before the fire having had lunch together before she made her way upstairs to her room.

He decided to stay downstairs in his own room and watch the general election coverage on television.

“At 10pm my wife was still upstairs and it was around 3.30am that I heard the smoke alarm from upstairs sounding,” the statement from him said.

“I walked out into the hallway and shouted upstairs to her ‘what’s going on?’

“There was no reply so I struggled upstairs and I could see smoke coming through the gaps in the door. I heard my wife say ‘just a minute’ and I said I would ring the fire brigade.

"Whilst standing there I could hear her coughing but then there was silence from her bedroom.”

Crews from Royal Wootton Bassett, Swindon and Westlea battled in vain to get the fire under control to rescue Mrs Ashley but their efforts could not save her and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The court heard that Mrs Ashley, a retired teacher of 36 years, kept her 15 cigarette-a-day smoking habit to herself and, while she often smoked in her room, the mother-of-three spent most of her time doing craft work from making cards to flower arrangements.

Following the fatal fire, an investigation was launched by Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service into the cause.

Station manager David Geddes, who led the investigation, had a statement read out at the hearing which detailed that there was a large amount of clutter in Mrs Ashley's room, which may have been a factor as to why the fire spread so quickly.

They also looked at the prospect the fire started through an electrical fault but could not draw a definitive conclusion.

Senior coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon David Ridley said based on the evidence that Mrs Ashley often smoked in her room and was found near the sink in her en suite bathroom, it appeared that she could have been smoking at the time of the fire.

“It does appear to be slightly odd the way that her husband asked what was going on and she replied ‘just a minute’,” he said.

“Of course she was found near the entrance of the en suite bathroom. On the balance of probabilities, it is more likely than not that she was trying to do something to extinguish the fire before it took hold of the property.

“As alluded by her family, she may have been doing some work into the early hours and something happened for the fire to break out. It is more likely than not that the fire related to smoking which spread out in her bedroom.

“I would like to take the opportunity to offer my sincere condolences to Rosemary’s husband, her children, grandchildren and her friends in relation to her untimely death.”

The medical cause of death was smoke inhalation and Mr Ridley concluded a verdict of misadventure.