Wirral woman killed in Wallasey fire

Jul 22 2009 by Luke Traynor, Birkenhead News

Wirral woman killed in Wallasey fire

INVESTIGATIONS are continuing this week into a fire which swept through a flat killing a woman.

Police were called to a second-floor property above Beryls, a general store in Brighton Street, Wallasey, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

They discovered the badly burned body of a woman, understood to be aged in her early 40s.

Locals identified here as Bernie or Bernadette who lived alone above the shop.

Three bouquets of flowers were left outside the flat, one which read: “Love you Bernie. Anna. God bless you.”

Police kept the property sealed off for a day and a half as they searched the building for clues. The body was eventually carried out at around 3pm on Sunday.

It is thought the blaze started accidentally, possibly due to a lit cigarette.

Neighbours said two men who live in a flat below found the woman when they arrived home.

Jack Brown, 82, who lives nearby, saw smoke billowing from the upstairs flat and called 999.