AN ELDERLY York woman died when her clothing went up in flames as she was cooking a meal on her electric oven.

Eileen Wilson, 82, formerly of Rawcliffe Lane, was preparing dinner for herself and her daughter when the cotton jacket and T-shirt she was wearing were ignited by a hob ring.

York Coroner's Court heard that Mrs Wilson's daughter, Janet, ran into the kitchen to help put the flames out.

Miss Wilson told the inquest her mother's shoulders appeared to be on fire.

She said: "I shouted at her to get down and rolled on top of her to crush the flames, but noticed there were still some flames on her shoulders.

"Then I thought I would fill up a bowl of water and pour it over her...I noticed her collar was still on fire so I put it out."

Miss Wilson then dialled 999, and an ambulance took her mother to hospital. More than a fifth of her body was burned in the incident, on August 31 last year, and she died 17 days later.

Miss Wilson's brave efforts to save her mother were praised by North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service fire investigator Jonathan Longfield.

"She acted properly and correctly. There is not a lot more she could have done," he said.

Mr Longfield told the inquest that electric hobs reached temperatures of between 400 and 500 degrees Celsius, easily enough to ignite cotton.

Deputy York coroner Jonathan Leach asked Mr Longfield how long cotton clothing would have to be in contact with an electric ring to ignite.

"Not very long. Seconds as opposed to several seconds," the firefighter replied.

Mr Leach recorded a verdict of accidental death.

After the hearing, Mr Longfield said: "Be very careful when cooking as clothing can drape over the cooking elements and easily catch fire.

"If it happens get down on the floor to try and smother the flames, as happened in this case, and get help as quickly as possible."

Updated: 11:00 Friday, August 01, 2003