Chesterfield: Woman drowned in Storm Babet flooding, inquest hears

Maureen Gilbert was found dead in her house in Tapton Terrace

A woman drowned in her own home when it flooded during UK-wide storms, an inquest has heard.

Maureen Gilbert, 83, was found in her terraced house in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in October.

Mrs GiIbert's body was discovered by her son Paul the day after he said he had urged emergency services to try to rescue her.

An inquest, opened on Thursday, heard a post-mortem examination gave a provisional cause of death as drowning.

Coroner Susan Evans expressed her condolences to Mrs Gilbert's family and adjourned the hearing at Chesterfield Coroner's Court.

Paul Gilbert said his mother had lived on the street all her life and was born two doors down

Mr Gilbert previously told the BBC his mother had called him the day before he found her to say "water was in the house".

He said: "They [emergency services] broke the window to get in; tried to smash the door to get in - but they said it was a danger to life and couldn't get into the house.

"[The next morning] me and my son both came down. I prised the window open, looked in the window and saw something and realised it was my mum."

Chesterfield was hit by severe flooding during Storm Babet

Derbyshire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after Mrs Gilbert's death.

The force said the referral was mandatory due to officers being involved with the evacuation of homes in the area.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had faced an "incredibly testing" situation when flooding hit the town during Storm Babet.

At the time, it said it was carrying out an internal investigation into the response and the evacuation of homes, and would comply with the coroner's inquiry into Mrs Gilbert's death.

The government has previously said the Environment Agency was working to "fully review what happened".