Fumes at inn kill two guests

A QUIET village in the Shropshire hills was in shock last night after two young women staying at a pub for the weekend were found dead in their room.

The two friends, both in their twenties, are thought to have been poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes from a faulty gas boiler. They were found side by side near the washbasin in their room at the 16th-century Crown Inn in Wentnor yesterday morning. They may have been trying to revive themselves with water after feeling the effects of the fumes.

The women, who are believed to be from Surrey, were in Shropshire for a college reunion. A married couple, staying in the next room were recovering last night after receiving treatment in a decompression unit at the Wirral Hospital in Merseyside.

Staff discovered the tragedy after none of the four turned up for breakfast yesterday morning.

Detective Inspector Peter Dyke said four other people were taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital suffering from the effects of carbon monoxide. He said the police investigation was centring on a gas heating boiler in a room beneath where the dead women were staying.