A 54-YEAR-old woman was found dead in her front room after a fire in her home.

Lynne McShane, of Dalton Street, Nelson, was discovered sitting in her chair by firefighters, who were alerted to the blaze at around 8.15pm yesterday.

Neighbour and friend Margaret Dougall, 63, grew concerned for Lynne because she wouldn't answer the telephone.

She rushed over to her house knocked on the door but there was no answer. And when she looked through the letter box and saw the hallway was filled with thick, black smoke.

Margaret then ran across the street and another neighbour Christine Beaumont , 67, contacted the fire service.

Police believe Mrs McShane may have fallen asleep as a result of medication she had taken. They are not treating the fire as suspicious.

Christine Beaumont, 67, said: "There was a bang at the window at about 3pm and the window was black like she had drawn the curtains or something.

"I thought that she had thrown something at the window. Then Margaret couldn't get an answer from her when she went check on her. Margaret looked after her everyday, she paid her bills for her.

"Lynne would talk to everybody, and everyone knew her."

Margaret Dougall said: "She was found in the chair which I left her in when I saw her earlier in the day.

"Everyone who knew her is devastated.

"Everybody liked her, she was fun and she was one of the people who have lived the longest on the street."

James Morris, 40, who lived two doors away, said: "I would go and see her ever morning. I left at about 11.30am.

"We would just have a gossip about what was going on.

"She suffered from arthritis and she would only go out up town on Wednesday to get her shopping, I would buy the things she had forgotten during the week.

"She had no children and she treated me like a son.

"I feel awful, everyone is devastated. The firemen said there was nothing we could have done but I wish I could have change it."

A spokesperson for the Ambulance Service said: "We were called to Dalton Street around 8.20pm.

"When we arrived the firefighters had found someone in the house but she had died.

"We left the scene shortly afterwards and left the investigations to the police."

A police spokesperson said: "It appears there has been a seat of fire in the house.

"The house was locked up and there was a disabled lady in the house who had fallen asleep, possibly due to her medication.

"We are not treating her death as suspicious."