POLICE investigating the death of a Poole woman, whose body was found in a burning house, have charged her son with murder.

Kevin John Burbidge, 49, appeared before Bournemouth magistrates on Wednesday charged with murdering 70-year-old Marion Merritt at her home in Lulworth Crescent, Hamworthy, Poole on Monday morning.

He was remanded into custody until he appears next at Winchester Crown Court on March 11.

On Tuesday, stunned friends of Marion paid tribute to a woman who "believed the sun rose and set with her only child".

Firefighters discovered her body after they extinguished a blaze at her home in Lulworth Crescent on Monday morning.

Marion, aged 70, had been a close family friend of Robert and Moira Turnbull for nearly four decades.

Mrs Turnbull, speaking from her Sandbanks home, said: "We are both completely shocked. She was such a nice woman, really lovely, a good friend. She didn't deserve to die like this.

"It hasn't hit me properly yet - I always assumed she would outlive me."

Marion, who spent every Wednesday with the Turnbulls, was born and bred in Hamworthy.

Mr Turnbull, 73, said: "I picked her up as usual last week and we all enjoyed the day.

"She seemed quite happy and didn't speak about any trouble in her life. We all went for a drive through Poole Park and along the quay.

"We would often drive along the quay to look at the Sunseeker yachts.

"She was the typical doting mother who had had quite a hard life, as her first husband died young."

She later re-married and was married to her second husband for 20 years.

"She was a real genuine woman, who we thought of as part of our family. I had a lot of respect for her and she will be sorely missed."

Marion, who is believed to have a brother in the Bournemouth area, worked at Beales department store during the 1990s.

Mrs Turnbull said: "My daughter was really upset when she found out and our two granddaughters will be devastated. I cannot believe she is gone."