A mother and son who perished in a fire may have escaped if their house had a smoke alarm, an inquest has heard.

But there was no sign of any such device in the rented property in Dover.

Coroner Katrina Hepburn told the hearing on Friday: "It does concern me that there was a rental property that did not have any fire alarms.

"If they were alerted they may well have got out sooner.

"I am concerned there may be further risk to life if there is an ongoing issue of alarms."

Kent Fire and Rescue Service station manager Charlie Smith told the hearing, by audio link: "A rental property needs fire alarms.

"The landlord should provide sufficient smoke alarms.

'If they were alerted they may well have got out sooner...'

"We didn't find any or the remains of one."

Ms Hepburn, area coroner for Central and South East Kent, said she would discuss the matter further with police officers who investigated the case and Dover District Council, which deals with housing in the area.

Det Sgt Ian Watkins, in written evidence, said that the landlord, who was not named at the hearing, had been interviewed about the lack of smoke alarms.

He added that the council had said it had no record of previous issues with the landlord for non-compliance of rules.

The fire broke out at the rear bedroom of the terraced house in Primrose Road, Dover, on the night of July 23 last year.

The victims were Agra Krauklite, 60, and her son Edgar Krauklitis, 32.

These were Latvian nationals who had been in England together since 2014 and lived at this house since September 2019.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called to the blaze at 10.45pm after neighbours reported smoke coming out of an upstairs window.

The doors were locked from inside so firefighters had to break in to rescue the pair.

Paramedics were also called and Mr Krauklitis was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.26am on July 24.

Ms Krauklite was taken to King's College Hospital in London but was pronounced dead there at 5.10am that day.

Investigations found that the blaze had started in an upstairs rear bedroom and spread to the front bedroom.

But the severity of the damage meant the cause of the fire could not be determined.

Cigarettes were smoked in the house but it could not be confirmed whether the fire may have been started from these or another source, for example candles.

Post mortem examinations found that Mr Krauklitis died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to smoke inhalation.

But his mother died from a cardiac arrest following multiple burns.

DS Watkins had told the inquest that he pair had a volatile relationship and Mr Krauklitis had previously been arrested for assaulting her.

The inquest, at County Hall in Maidstone, heard that both misused alcohol.

Mr Krauklitis was found to have 177 milligrammes of alcohol per per 100 millilitres of blood when the drink-drive limit is 80.

Ms Krauklite had 97 milligrammes in her system.

Police said that they were satisfied that there was no third party involvement in the fire and Ms Hepburn concluded that both victims had died in an accident.

Both mother and son were unemployed although Mr Krauklitis had previously been a refuse worker.

A Kent Police spokesman said after the inquest: "No arrests have been made or charges brought in relation to the fire. Enquiries are ongoing."

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service now said: "Due to ongoing police enquiries, we're currently unable to comment further on this incident.

Dover District Council confirmed that this was a private house and not a council one.

A spokesman added: "Our private sector housing team has not been involved with this property."

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