It came as an inquest opened and was adjourned at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone this week.

A date for a full hearing has provisionally been set for August 13.

Mrs Whiteman, a housewife, who was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, had been admitted to Mid Essex Hospital with what were described as 30% burns.

Firefighters needed breathing apparatus to put out the flames in the first-floor flat and also evacuated a neighbouring property.