A CARE assistant told an inquest that she had not taken part in a fire evacuation drill in more than a decade working at a nursing home where an elderly resident died in a fire.

Senior care assistant Sandra Corner was speaking at the hearing into the death of Dorothy Robinson, who was killed when fire tore through St David's Nursing Home, in Lord Street, Redcar, east Cleveland, on August 20, 2004.

Mrs Robinson, 89, was one of two residents left in the building. She was bed-ridden and could not walk on her own.

While the other forgotten resident, Brian Jones, survived the blaze, Mrs Robinson was found by firefighters lying in her bed with the ceiling caved in around her. She had sustained 70 per cent burns and died at James Cook University Hospital the next day.

Mrs Corner told the hearing visibility was poor as smoke filled the corridors, while agitated residents queued at a stairwell as they could not leave the building unaided.

Amid the confusion, Mrs Robinson was left behind. "I never thought about her," said Mrs Corner.

Mrs Corner told Teesside coroners yesterday that although she had worked at St David's for ten- and-a-half years, she had never heard of a contingency folder or an emergency folder and said she did not think she had received adequate training for such a circumstance.

She said she had never taken part in an evacuation drill.

However, the hearing was told in a statement by nursing home manager Jacqueline Elliott that drills had taken place.

Mrs Elliott, who also gave evidence yesterday, rejected claims by Mrs Corner that a video used to demonstrate evacuation procedure was "a load of rubbish".

She said: "It was as true-to-life as it could have been."

Mrs Elliott told the hearing that on the night of the fire, staff failed to perform a roll call until it was too late, as they were too busy evacuating residents.

Mrs Elliott was not at work when the fire alarm sounded at 5am, but was soon at the scene. Upon her arrival, she said she was surprised that a roll call had not been taken.

"Perhaps there was not enough emphasis on roll call in training," she said, as part of a written statement. "It would have given some focus, something to work around."

But she added that staff were preoccupied with the task of evacuating residents to the car park of a nearby pub.

The inquest continues.