Can't Assign value from list to string variable

Can't Assign value from list to string variable

Hi there.  I have a situation where I create a reference list in Deluge (Note, the list is declared as type string)

  1. StatusList = List:String();

  3. StatusList.add("");
  4. StatusList.add("Cold");
  5. StatusList.add("Warm");
  6. StatusList.add("Very Warm");
  7. StatusList.add("Hot");
I even declare my variable up front with an empty initialisation
  1. OldLoopStatus="";
Later in my code I have this:
  1. OldLoopStatus = StatusList.Get(LoopIndex);
I get this error:
Variable 'OldLoopStatus' is already defined of data type 'STRING' but trying to update '' data type

If I don't have the variable initialisation, then the assignment works, but I get an error when I try to compare OldLoopStatus to another string variable.

What am I missing here?

Regards
Jo