A 72-year-old woman, who died in a house fire near Abingdon, lived in such a cluttered home firefighters could not force their way inside, an inquest heard.

Joan Martin, of Sutton Wick Lane, Drayton, died on February 16 after items around a wood-burning stove caught light.

Her husband, self-confessed "hoarder" Nigel Martin, 71, managed to escape through the bungalow's only exit, but inadvertently fanned the flames by opening a kitchen door.

Fire investigation officer David Bray told today's inquest in Oxford that firefighters could only plot a 5cm-wide path through the couple's belongings heaped up on their 75ft-long front drive.

"There was a trough of approximately 52mm that we could get through," he said.

"We know that, because that's the width of our hose. It was extremely difficult."

Mr Bray said the fire was stoked by strong winds and firefighters could not get inside the bungalow due to the amount of items piled behind the front door and windows.

They eventually broke open a side window but by this time the building was declared unsafe to enter, because burning items in the attic and water used to fight the fire caused the roof to collapse.

Mr Bray said had a pre-fire risk assessment been carried out on the bungalow, he would have fitted smoke detectors and "possibly gone to the council or environmental health" to get the clutter removed.

Mr Martin, who suffered severe burns in the blaze, told the inquest he had lit the stove, which he cleaned monthly, at about 9.20pm to heat the house.

He said his wife, a former telephonist, had returned from walking their two dogs and they went to their bedroom to watch television.

Five minutes later, he smelled smoke and went to investigate.

He said: "I opened the sitting-room door and smoke just billowed out.

"I said to my wife 'It's the wood-burning stove' and that's the last I saw of her."

After raising the alarm with neighbour David Pointer, Mr Martin was unable to get back into the bungalow.

"The flames were so fierce and the smoke was so choking," he said.

Referring to his piles of collected items, he added: "I was a hoarder. These were things I was always going to do and never got round to doing, so it collected and collected over the years."

Pathologist Dr Sanjiv Manek said Mrs Martin died of smoke inhalation "within minutes" of the blaze's outbreak.

Assistant coroner Dr Richard Whittington recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He told Mr Martin: "The circumstances are tragic, very tragic indeed.

"I am glad you have recovered from your burns, but I am sure there are many things you will never recover from.

"It would have been helpful if smoke alarms had been fitted."

After the inquest, family friend Anthony King said: "She was a delightful lady who was loved enormously, and they were a devoted couple.

"This was a tragedy, which has caused great sadness to Mr Martin."