A WOMAN has died after a house fire in Banbury.

Neighbours have described how they tried to get into the house in Portway but were stopped by the intense heat of the blaze at about 7.45pm yesterday.

Police forensics officers and fire investigators were at the scene today, although the cause of the fire is not believed to be suspicious.

Neighbour Lisa Cole, 41, was in her back garden when she noticed smoke coming from the house.

She said: “My daughter knocked on the front door to see if she could rouse her, but she couldn’t.

“My partner, myself and a neighbour opened the back gate but with the heat we didn’t make it down the steps to the back door. We got about 10ft from the back door.

“The windows were bubbling, the curtains were on fire and smoke was coming out of the roof as well.

“When we came back out of the gate, firefighters had arrived. All our homes could have gone up.”

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: “I heard a bang, but I could not hear alarms going off.

“We could not get access to the house. It’s very sad. It is extremely tragic.”

Police spokesman Chris Kearney confirmed a 64-year-old woman had died at the house. Her next of kin had not been informed last night.

Mr Kearney added. “We are still carrying out our investigation, but at this stage we do not believe it is suspicious.

“We will be preparing a report for the coroner’s office.”