A BUNGALOW blaze which killed a 70-year-old woman in Sutton Bridge is thought to have been sparked by a discarded cigarette.

An inquest is due to open this morning after Pauline Hurst was found dead inside her home in Princes Street shortly after 7.40am on Saturday.

Neighbours helped Ms Hurst’s daughter, who is in her 40s and thought to have Down’s syndrome, to escape the burning house.

A coroner is today expected to hear that the blaze was started by a cigarette and may have smouldered for several hours before the alarm was raised.