RELATIVES who fitted a second-hand water heater at the centre of investigations into a triple death tragedy in Burnley did so correctly, police confirmed today.

Detective Chief Inspector Clive Tattum said extensive inquiries revealed the heater, which may have caused the deaths of 75-year-old Mrs Emma Nelson and her grandchildren, Michael Wright, 13, and Rebecca Marshall, 15, as they slept at Mrs Nelson's home in Berry Street last week, was not malfunctioning in any way.

"The relatives who fitted it are blameless," said Det Chief Insp Tattum following a three-day investigation by the police forensic science service and British Gas experts. After all our inquiries we have found that no-one is at fault."

The victims are thought to have been overcome by carbon monoxide fumes but results of Home Office post-mortem examinations are understood to be inconclusive.

Last week Detective Chief Inspector Tattum said early indications suggested that a tap on the heater, fitted two weeks earlier, had been left running and added that no matter who had fitted the boiler, the result would have been the same.

He believed the heater was designed to be used at five-minute intervals.

A triple funeral service will be held on Thursday at the Salvation Army Citadel in Richard Street, followed by a cortege procession past the children's homes and their schools, Gawthorpe and Towneley high schools on the way to the cemetery.

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