Anna Cox, 24, died in the fire at her flat in Cambrian Avenue on New Year's Eve last year.

An inquest in Leeds failed to determine a cause but, recording an open verdict, deputy assistant coroner Richard Manning did not rule out the possibility that a claim by Miss Cox that she had been raped at a Leeds hotel had contributed to depression, which could have caused her to start the fire.

Miss Cox, who was single and worked as a kitchen porter, had moved to the flat six weeks earlier and had recently met new boyfriend Peter Barr on a night out in central Leeds.

In the hours before her death, Miss Cox had been drinking with Mr Barr and a friend and neighbour, Paul Ridyard. The court heard that the trio had enjoyed a "good evening, laughing and joking."

Mr Ridyard told the court in a statement that the mood changed when Miss Cox started talking about "an up and coming court case" and when "she had been raped at the Queens Hotel."

The court heard that around 3am, after returning to her flat, Miss Cox asked Mr Barr to go out to the shops to buy food and cigarettes. He had left her "merry, in good spirits but sleepy", Mr Barr told the inquest.

Just a short while later he received a panicked phone call from Miss Cox saying "the house has gone up in flames". He ran back to the flat in time to see Miss Cox being brought out on a stretcher.

The inquest also heard that Miss Cox had wanted to borrow electricity tokens earlier in the evening from Mr Ridyard as her meter was empty and her flat was in complete darkness

Christopher Clarke, chief fire investigation officer for West Yorkshire Fire Service, said: "The most likely cause is the application of a naked flame on to material on the settee. It's not unheard of for people to use fire in times of depression or rejection in order to receive sympathies of others."

DI Michael Jackson of West Yorkshire Police told the inquest there had been "unusual circumstances" to the case and a thorough joint investigation by police and the fire brigade.

A post mortem found Miss Cox had died of smoke inhalation and 40 per cent burns.

Recording an open verdict, deputy assistant coroner Richard Manning said it was "impossible" to determine what had happened and whether "depression or upset or attention seeking or worse" had contributed to Miss Cox's death.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "We received a complaint of rape from Miss Cox but were unable to progress the case because of a lack of evidence."