A coroner has decided not to conduct any further investigation after a woman was found dead at an over-55s independent living scheme in Bromley.

The News Shopper reported in November how a neighbour claimed they had raised concerns about the elderly woman’s welfare for more than a month before she was found dead.

They said letters had been gathering in her mailbox, nobody had seen her and there was a strong smell coming from her home.

But Moat, the company which runs the Fletchers Close scheme, said a member of its staff had last spoken to the resident just four days before she was found dead.

The coroner’s decision means that a preliminary investigation found the woman had died of natural causes.

It also means she will not be publicly identified – although she has been named locally as Carol.

A resident who knew Carol expressed disappointment that no inquest will be held into her death.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “When you’re going downstairs, even now, there’s still a stench coming from her flat. It’s been a while now and it’s still there.”

The neighbour described Carol as a hoarder with evident mental health issues.

He had hoped an inquest would look at her living conditions before her death, which he said had been bad for years.

“There was junk everywhere and she was a heavy smoker,” he said.

“I phoned up Moat and said, ‘Something has got to be done about this’. They said, ‘It’s not our job’. I was angry.”

Fletchers Close is an independent living scheme, meaning residents have to opt-in for daily or weekly welfare calls.

Police were called to Carol’s home on November 3 and found her dead inside.

Moat’s head of supported and retirement living Rajinder Manger said the firm had last spoken to Carol during her weekly Monday check-in and she had not raised any health concerns.

But when neighbours voiced concerns four days later, the firm called police.

Moat said it was “always sad to lose one of our customers” and that it had supported other residents after Carol’s body was discovered.

Her neighbour said that residents have not been given any news about a funeral.

“I don’t think she has any family,” he said. “I remember asking her once what she was doing for Christmas. She said, ‘Christmas don’t mean nothing to me. I’ve got no one’.”