A pensioner died after a blaze broke out in the kitchen of her Walsall home, leaving her trapped in a bedroom upstairs calling out for help.

Joan Callear, aged 70, was alone at her home in Edison Road, when the blaze started. Neighbours heard her cries for help and raised the alarm.

Bloxwich firefighters rescued her and attempted to resuscitate her on the roadside but she died at around 5pm yesterday in Walsall Manor Hospital.  

Shocked neighbours said Mrs Callear had lived at the address with her husband Archie for around 50 years. But firefighters said Mr Callear was not in the house at the time of the fire at around 12.30pm.

Neighbour Susan Stone said she had known Mrs Callear for more than 25 years. “She was an absolutely lovely woman, she was so quiet,” she said. “We’re so sad, it’s a very close knit community here.”

Friend Mary Wilkinson, aged 77, of Edison Road, said: “I knew her a long time and you couldn’t have met a nicer woman.”

It is still unclear how the fire started, but it is not being treated as suspicious.  

The property on the Beechdale Estate was boarded up today. Mrs Callear also leaves a son who lives in the Walsall area.