Further tests were being carried out today to establish the cause of death of a Rawdon woman who died after a suspected gas leak at a pub.

Helen Margaret Marks, 31, of Carr Close, Rawdon, died with her 30-year-old friend, Kay Stenning, at a country pub in Shropshire at the weekend.

The women, who were attending a college reunion, were found slumped in their guest room at the Crown Inn in Wentnor.

They were discovered lying side by side on the floor of their room by staff after they failed to come down for breakfast.

A West Mercia Ambulance spokesman said the two were believed to have been poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes from a leaking gas boiler beneath their room.

A police spokesman said today that a post-mortem examination had been carried out on the victims yesterday but that further tests on the cause of death had to be completed.

Police and the Health and Safety Executive are now carrying out an investigation into the incident in which two other guests, brother and sister Steven and Caroline Ford, were found unconscious at the pub.

Steven, from Peterborough, and Caroline, who lives in London, were flown by air ambulance to a decompression unit at Murrayfield Hospital, the Wirral, Merseyside, where they are now recovering.

Four others guests at the pub were taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for checks.

All those affected were attending the college reunion

A West Mercia Police spokesman said an investigation was continuing in conjunction with experts from the Health and Safety Executive.

The family of Ms Marks were too distressed to comment on the tragedy.

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