POLICE are investigating the cause of a fire in which a 30-year-old woman died at the weekend.
Neighbours described how the woman's boyfriend had managed to flee the blaze in their ground floor flat, but was beaten back by thick smoke when he tried to reach her at about 11am on Saturday.
A police spokesman said last night that although conclusive identification was not possible they were satisfied the victim was Victoria Barker, who lived in Coquet Gardens, South Stanley, County Durham, where the fire occurred.
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