A woman has died following a fire aboard a canal barge.

Emergency services were called to reports of a blaze on a moored boat at about 2.10am on Thursday.

West Midlands Ambulance Service, which sent crews to the scene on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Stone, Staffordshire, said paramedics and firefighters battled to save the woman.

In a statement, the ambulance service said: “On arrival, crews discovered a woman in cardiac arrest who had been rescued from the boat by the fire service.

“Firefighters had already started CPR which ambulance staff continued.

“However, unfortunately it quickly became apparent nothing could be done to save her and she was confirmed dead at the scene.”

An investigation into the cause of the fire is under way.