A pensioner who died in a house fire caused by her smoking in bed had been warned by her daughter not to do it, a Bradford inquest has heard.

Stella Cavallari’s daughter Shelley Lobley, whose statement was read out at the hearing yesterday, said her mum would not take any notice of her.

“I always thought that one day she would cause an accident by smoking in bed,” he statement continued.

Mrs Cavallari, who was 77 and lived alone at her home in Wheatlands Grove, Heaton, was found dead by her carers on June 13 this year.

She had been a smoker on and off since she was 16 and usually smoked no more than ten cigarettes a day, the inquest was told.

Two packets of cigarettes, a lighter and an ashtray had been found near her bed which, despite having a flame retardent mattress, had burned black through.

Fire investigator Gary Askwith said it was likely Mrs Cavallari had fallen asleep while smoking in bed and dropped a lit cigarette on her clothing.

Remnents of her cotton blue cardigan had been found on a walking frame close to her bed where she had probably thrown it after waking up to find her clothes on fire, he added.

Mrs Cavallari had then probably tried to get out of bed, he said, and fallen to the floor where she was later discovered.

She had been wearing an alarm bracelet with a button to press in case of emergencies but it had not been activated.

A post-mortem examination showed she had died from inhaling soot and carbon monoxide and that the burns she suffered would not alone have killed her.

Mrs Cavallari had worked as a salesperson with the council and then had had worked on the buses helping disabled children before her retirement, the inquest was told.

Recording a verdict that Mrs Cavallari’s death was an accident, Assistant Bradford Coroner Mary Burke said: “This should act as a reminder to everyone of the high risk of smoking in bed and what the tragic consequence could be.”