Police are appealing for help in catching the killer of a mum who died in Southend ten years ago today.

Andrea Daly, a 40-year-old mother of two, died in a house fire in Rochford Road.

Her sons Richard and Stuart, then aged 20 and 17, were forced to jump from a first floor window as the flames took hold of the family home.

Their father Keith was working away from home when he received the devastating call that his wife of 20 years had died as a result of inhaling smoke after becoming trapped in her bedroom.

Extensive enquiries have been carried out to try and find who was responsible for the blaze, which was caused when a fire was started deliberately through the letter box at 3.30am on Thursday, November 10, 2005.

But despite these efforts, they still remain at large and their motives for starting the fire are unknown.

Essex Police's investigation remains open and today the force is renewing the appeal for information to find the person or individuals responsible for Andrea’s murder.

Independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers is also offering a reward of up to £10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone linked to her death.

Det Insp Steve Ellis, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "Ten years may have passed but the pain felt by Andrea’s family continues.

"They need answers and we will not stop looking for them until we have found her killer, or killers.

"Someone knows who committed this appalling crime. They may have felt frightened to come forward with information in the past, or felt obliged to stay silent.

"However, allegiances and relationships will have changed over the last ten years and I would appeal directly to those people to help us resolve this case for Andrea’s family.

"She could have been anyone’s wife, mother, sister, or daughter.

"Andrea and her family deserve justice. Please contact us with any information that can help us achieve this.”

German-born Andrea met Keith, then a signalman in the British Army, in a Hamburg nightclub in 1985.

Keith, 55, said: "When we met, she couldn’t speak a single word of English and I couldn’t speak a word of German. She learned English with a dictionary sitting in front of Sesame Street on the television.”

Despite the communication barrier, they were engaged within four months and moved to the UK in 1989.

Andrea took a job as a rail engineering risk assessor, based at Southend Airport, and Keith became a long distance lorry driver and travelled across Europe.

He was in Immingham, north east Lincolnshire, on the day of the fire when he was called at 4am and urged to return home.

"When I got to the hospital I was still in shock, I couldn’t comprehend what was going on,” said Keith, who still lives in Southend.

"Both my boys were at the hospital with burns and shock. Then we were taken into a little room and told Andrea had died.

"It didn’t really compute for about three days after that, nothing was registering. We just struggled.”

He also had to break the news to Andrea’s parents, Peter and Antje Sanno, and brother Ralf, who live in Hamburg.

Andrea and her sons had gone to sleep a few hours before the fire.

Richard, now 30, said: "The next thing I knew I could hear loud crackling and my brother came running over, burst open the window and dived out of the window like he was diving into a swimming pool.

"I tried to go to the door to pull the handle open. My hand was bubbling when I touched the handle.

"All I could hear was my mum screaming and bellowing. I realised I couldn’t do anything.”

Andrea’s close-knit family described her as well-liked and loving, with a bubbly personality.

They appealed for anyone who has information that could help the police investigation to break their silence.

"I wouldn’t want anyone to go through the pain we have been through,” said Keith.

"It is hard and we cannot deal with it.

"For ten years we have struggled, whereas the person who did this has been out there for ten years with this on their mind.

"But someone must have a conscience.

"It’s not only my life and the boys’ lives they have affected, but our whole family’s lives.

"There is a part missing and there will always be a part missing.”

• A dedicated phone line has been set up on 01277 266869 for anyone with information to contact, or they can email scdappeals@essex.pnn.police.uk Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org