NEIGHBOURS last night spoke of their struggle to save an elderly woman who died in a house fire on an Oxford housing estate.

Evelyn White’s body was discovered by firefighters in the bedroom of a house she shared with her husband Lucas White in Samphire Road, Blackbird Leys.

Mr White was rescued by neighbours who then risked their lives to save his wife, who was in her 80s. But thick smoke and heat overwhelmed them.

Her body was discovered at about 9.30pm on Thursday.

Last night, firefighters were still trying to work out how the blaze started, but were not treating it as suspicious.

Peter Buck, 51, who lives just a few doors away, said he raced to the terraced house when he heard a frantic neighbour raise the alarm.

The father-of-six said: “I could see smoke coming out of the top window. I went in the front door and saw smoke coming down the stairs and Mr White was at the bottom.

“I said “Where is she?” I ran to the top of the stairs, but I was pushed back by the dense smoke. I took one breath and I could feel it in my lungs. No-one could survive in that.

“I shouted down for a torch because I couldn’t see a thing, but there was no point in going on. I couldn’t get to her. I couldn’t see and it was as hot as a sauna.”

Builder Mr Buck paid tribute to the quick-thinking actions of another neighbour, who helped pull Mr White to safety.

He said: “Mr White was very distressed. All he was saying was ‘She’s gone, she’s gone. He heard one of his daughters screaming outside and he knew then.

“He kept saying she was his soul mate and he didn’t know how he was going to cope without her.

“They are such nice people, they are a big family and are all very close.”

Neighbours were evacuated from their homes for several hours after the blaze and were looked after by the Red Cross.

Incident commander Gary D’Anger said: “The upstairs bedroom was very heavily smoke-logged and we found the lady laid on the floor. She was pronounced dead almost instantly.”

He added: “It was a well-developed bedroom fire which presented the fire crews with very difficult conditions in which to work.”

He urged householders to fit smoke alarms in their homes and to have a fire plan on how to escape easily in an emergency.

It was the second serious fire in the road in two years. On New Year’s Eve 2008, Theresa Witts and her children were treated for smoke inhalation after a blaze in a bedroom.