Why was vulnerable OAP, 85, left alone to die in big freeze?

Disgusted neighbours expressed their shock that nothing was done to help 85-year-old Vera Hamilton during one of the coldest winters on record.

She died alone although social workers had recently held emergency talks to discuss concerns about her welfare.

Police were alerted by anxious neighbours when someone spotted her lying in the bedroom of her home in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, after being unable to get in touch with her for over a week.

Officers discovered her body after breaking down the “reclusive” pensioner’s door just three days after Christmas.

Residents yesterday said they had been warning Aberdeenshire Council for a year that she was in danger and had only one working light bulb, inadequate heating and piles of rubbish building up inside her house.

The local authority said its staff and other agencies had taken “various steps” to try to help Mrs Hamilton but could not force people to give up their independence.

Neighbour Peter Bailey, 73, said he was shocked by the state of Mrs Hamilton’s living conditions.

He said: “There was no adequate heating and only one light bulb in the house was working, and there were years of accumulated bags of rubbish cluttering the rooms.

“We contacted the council’s social services people on several occasions.

“The council’s view is that she didn’t want help so they couldn’t force it upon her.

“I don’t think they did enough. She was stubborn and they didn’t have the persistence or the patience to deal with her. It can’t be acceptable to simply give up on a person in such physical condition because they say no to help.

“It defies belief that such a situation could be allowed to happen and a lonely pensioner should be left to die in extreme weather conditions. She needed help.”

Mr Bailey said Mrs Hamilton had lived in the small Aberdeenshire town for around two decades and her only known relatives were thought to be cousins living in Canada. She had once been active in the community but had become more reclusive in recent years and would not let anyone into her home.

Neighbours said Aberdeenshire Council’s adult protection team met to discuss her case on her birthday, December 6, but claimed that no action was taken even though the north-east was plunging into perishing sub-zero temperatures. Mrs Hamilton is thought to have died between then and when her body was found on December 28.

Another resident, Kathleen Hadden, added: “She was dignified and proud.

“Vera was a very intelligent lady with a good sense of humour.

“But I feel more could have been done in persuading her to to go into a nursing home for a few weeks until the snow went away.” However, a spokeswoman for Aberdeenshire Council said that while the authority regretted the death, it could not force people to accept help.

She added: “Social services took various steps throughout 2010, along with health professionals and neighbours, to understand the individual’s needs and to offer her support and assistance.

“Many older people greatly value and defend their personal privacy.”