NEIGHBOURS have paid tribute to a woman who died in a house fire which also claimed the life of her pet cat.

Emergency services were called to the two-storey house Blatchford Close, East Malling, near Maidstone, at about 3pm on Tuesday where they found the ground floor on fire and extensive smoke damage upstairs.

Firefighters, who forced they way in through the patio door at the back of the house, found the woman unconscious in the downstairs lounge.

Attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman, who neighbours said had lived at the house for a number of years, was described as outgoing and caring.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “She was one of the first people I met and got to know when I moved here. She was a nice woman who was fun and someone you could have a laugh with.”

Another, who also asked to remain anonymous, said she called 999 after smelling burning which she thought at first was a bonfire.

She said her neighbour had “a heart of gold” and had been a tower of strength over the years.

“As a neighbour and a friend she was a lovely person and really would have done anything for you,” she added.

The woman, who has not been formally identified, was thought to have been in her 40s.

An inquiry by the Kent Fire and Rescue Investigation Team into the cause of the blaze has yet to reach a conclusion but a Maidstone and Malling Police spokeswoman said neither the woman’s death nor the fire were being treating as suspicious. An inquest will be held.

* The blaze comes less than a month after a pensioner died at her her home in nearby Norman Road, West Malling. The woman, in her 70s, was found by firefighters in the lounge of her home on Tuesday, April 26.