The granddaughter of a 94-year-old woman who froze to death in a care home has said she wants to sue the owner for negligence.

Jackie Brandom, 49, of Hale Drive in Mill Hill, said that ultimately responsibility for the death had to lie with Paul Tripp, the owner of the Kestrel Grove home in Bushey, where her grandmother Maud Lever died in October last year from hypothermia.

She was found in the early morning with one leg hanging out of her bedroom window after she climbed onto the sill during the night. Her body temperature had dropped to 26C - 10C below normal. But instead of calling for a doctor, staff put her back to bed with extra blankets, and failed to shut the window.

Mrs Brandom said that that a night-time care worker at the home had become a scapegoat when it emerged that he had another job during the day and so may have been too tired to attend to his night-time duties. She contacted solicitors on Monday with a view to taking Mr Tripp to court.

"I keep being told that because she was elderly, I wouldn't get much money out of it, but I'm not interested in money. I want to bring the home owner to the forefront. He's blaming the nurse who was moonlighting but the buck stops with him," she said.

Mrs Lever, of Elm Park in Stanmore, had checked into Kestrel Grove for a week last October because her daughter Patricia Voce, 75, with whom she lived, was suffering ill health.

At an inquest at Hatfield Coroner's Court on Thursday last week, coroner Edward Thomas said there had been a gross failure to provide adequate warmth and attend to someone who was dependent, very dependent'.

Staff had also failed to check Mrs Lever every hour, despite it being written into their contract, he said.

Mr Thomas recorded a verdict of death due to neglect. Immediately after the incident, Mr Tripp suspended several staff, including night nurse Chandradeo Seeratun, who was in charge of the home at the time. Mr Tripp also reported Mr Seeratun to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Mrs Lever used to work for the Ministry of Defence in Stanmore Park.

Mr Tripp declined to comment.