A GRANDMOTHER found at her Kingswinford home after a blaze died of natural causes, an inquest has heard.

Edith Williams, 82, had stopped breathing before dropping her cigarette, causing a fire in the lounge of her Catesby Drive house, just after 11.15pm on November 14.

An inquest at Black Country Coroners’ Court held on Monday (January 16) heard how neighbours, Mr and Mrs Jones, responded to hearing a smoke alarm going off by using bowls of water to put out the flames before emergency services arrived.

Firefighters discovered the former bakery assistant in her armchair with a cigarette by her right side, which had caught alight, causing the fire to spread to her clothing.

However, the fire investigation into the death of Mrs Williams, whose mobility had severely declined since suffering a stroke in 2005 shortly after the death of her husband, said that it was believed she had died prior to the fire from a ‘natural event’.

Her son Tim Williams, a computer operator from Wall Heath, paid tribute to his mother, saying the incident was his family’s “worst fear”.

He said: “Despite our advice she was a heavy smoker and that did not help her breathing, but watching television and smoking were her only pleasures towards the end.

“She was so hardworking. A great mother and grandmother, and the only thing she wouldn’t do if she was asked was give up the cigarettes.

“We did everything we could to help her. We even had webcams set up so we could check that she was alright.

“Our worst fear was that she would fall asleep and drop a cigarette.

“Over the years she had been to see three spiritualists, one in Blackpool, one in Rhyl and one in Kinver and they all said that she would die at 82.

“With her problems we didn’t think she would reach 82, but she did. But every day from her birthday on November 8 we had to get paramedics down.

“We think that she was aiming for that goal, just to say they were right. We would always say it was a mumbo jumbo kind of thing, but she believed everything they said and would preach this to us.”

A post mortem stated the primary cause of Mrs Williams’ death was ischemic heart disease, while a blood toxicology report said there was “no significant evidence” of carbon monoxide or soot present in her lungs, which led to the conclusion that her death took place before the fire was established.

Senior Black Country Coroner Zafar Siddique gave a conclusion of death by natural causes.

Following the inquest, Mrs Williams’ son John told the News: “We are such a tight knit family and we always tried to do our best for mum. We knew she would never give up the cigarettes, but we did everything we could to help her.

“It’s a terrible thing that happened, but I think it’s a small comfort to all of us to know that she didn’t suffer.

"I would also like to thank the female police officer from Brierley Hill Police Station who handled the situation."