Blaze death couple named

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Jan 2, 2009

NEIGHBOURS and friends have told of their shock after a couple were killed in a chip pan blaze.

Cheryl Davies, 39, and her boyfriend Andrew Vaughan, 29, died just hours into the new year at their home in Richardson Street, in Ashington, Northumberland.

After returning home from a night out, it is understood the couple had begun to prepare chips in the kitchen before the flames took hold.

Neither of the two smoke alarms fitted to the property were said to be working at the time of the fire.

Next door neighbour Cynthia Morgan, 61, said: "Cheryl was a lovely girl. We used to pass the time of day and she was always very nice. It's terrible."

Yesterday curtains were drawn at the nearby Elephant pub, where Cheryl worked in the kitchen.

Manager Marie Wood said: "She was such a lovely girl. She had worked here since August and had made such a difference. Everyone here loved her."

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