AN elderly woman has died after a bungalow fire in Belchamp St Paul on Thursday.

When fire services arrived at the scene, on Gages Road, it was reported that an elderly, deaf lady was inside. 

She was found unconscious, was not breathing and had no pulse. 

Fire crews gave her CPR and after a few minutes her pulse returned and she started breathing again. 

Crews continued to give her oxygen while waiting for the ambulance arrival, she was then checked over and air lifted to Bury St Edmunds Hospital.

She later died in hospital as a result of smoke inhalation.  

A fire investigation was carried out at the scene, concluding this was nothing more than an accident. 

The lady, who was in her nineties, had working smoke alarms but due to being deaf was unable to hear them. 

Two hose reel jets were used to extinguish the fire.

A ventilation fan was used to clear the bungalow of smoke, and a thermal imaging camera was used to check for remaining hot spots. 

One crew from Halstead, one from Sible Hedingham and two from Sudbury attended the incident.