CONCERN is mounting in the Launceston area that more than four months after the death of local historian and author Miss Joan Rendell when her home burnt down, no date has been fixed for the inquest.
The 'Post' has been told that no formal identification of the body has yet been made.
The matter was due to be raised by the Mayor of Launceston, Cllr Paul O'Brien, at the meeting of Launceston Town Council after the 'Post' went to press.
The fire broke out at Miss Rendell's detached bunglow home at Tremarsh, Werrington, on May 4 this year.
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Police confirmed at the time that "an elderly lady" had been trapped inside the bunglow when the fire began.
Tributes to Miss Rendell MBE, who had been the Werrington correspondent for this newspaper for 60 years poured into the 'Post' from local and national sources. She had written 30 books on a range of subjects from matchboxes to local church buildings and was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd in 1980, taking the name Scrfyer Werryn — Writer for Werrington.
When contacted by the 'Post' on Tuesday, a spokesperson at the Cornwall coroner's office said they had no one listed bearing Miss Rendell's name but there was the body of "an unidentified person."
No reason for the delay was given but the spokesperson added: "There has been no progress — it is a long process. That is all I can tell you. That is all I am allowed to tell you."