Pensioner, 63, lay dead in armchair for 10 months before her body was found by electricity worker trying to cut off power

• Body of Maureen Wood was found in her Burnley, Lancashire, home last October
• She had not been seen or heard from since January 2011
  

By Graham Smith

PUBLISHED: 05:11 EST, 20 June 2012 | UPDATED: 05:31 EST, 20 June 2012

A pensioner who was found dead in an armchair could have died at least ten months earlier, an inquest heard today.

The body of Maureen Wood, 63, was only discovered after an electricity firm sent an officer to force entry to cut off the supply because she had not paid her bill.

Shocked neighbours said Ms Wood was such a recluse that they had thought the home was empty.

A spokesman for Age UK today described the case as a 'real tragedy' that illustrates the problem of social isolation among the elderly.

Tragedy: Maureen Wood, 63, was found dead in an armchair at her Burnley home (pictured centre) last October. She could have died at least ten months earlier

E.ON had been chasing Ms Wood over unpaid bills at her home in Burnley, Lancashire, since January last year, an inquest was told.

Coroners officer PC Bob Wilson told the hearing that the company, after receiving no response to requests for payment, presumed the property was empty.

On October 20 last year a warrant officer was sent to cut off the supply in the house.

Burnley Council had confirmed to police that Ms Wood had lived at the property since 1993 and was in receipt of single occupancy discount on her council tax since.

Officers spoke to neighbours who said that she had no family that they knew of and that she was a very private person who was rarely seen.

None of those spoken to could remember when they had last seen her.

Ms Wood had also been expected to attend an outpatient appointment at Royal Blackburn Hospital in June 2011 but had not attended.

Dr Walid Salman, a consultant pathologist at Burnley General Hospital, said that Ms Wood could have been dead for ‘many months’.

He said her cause of death was heart disease.

Neighbour Jayne Simpson, 64, said: 'It was quite a shock to everybody on the street.

'I think everybody nearby thought the house was empty. You never saw anybody there. People said the lady who lived there was very quiet and didn’t seem to be out very often.

'Nobody thought anything of it when it went quiet. I think people thought she had moved or they hadn’t seen her for a while.'

Geraldine Moore, chief officer at Age UK Lancashire, described the case as a ‘real tragedy’.

She said: 'Social isolation is one of the big issues we deal with. We would urge everyone to take the time to check on older relatives and neighbours.'

East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor, recording a verdict of natural causes, said that Ms Wood had ‘potentially been dead since January’ because no-one had been able to make contact with her for the ten months leading up to the discovery of her body.

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