A CATBROOK sports massage therapist died in the bedroom of her home when a fire suddenly started as she slept.

Mercifully, said coroner David Bowen at an inquest in Newport Magistrates Court on Wednesday 17th March, 46-year-old Wendy Cleal would not have suffered, because she was unconscious at the time. He recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Ms Cleal died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning caused when either a cigarette or a halogen heater set alight the mattress on which she was lying.