A FATHER died from smoke inhalation after a fire at his Tyldesley home, an inquest heard.

Neil Markland, aged 49, died after an electric heater fell over in his bedroom and set clothes on fire, which in turn filled the house with smoke.

Mr Markland, who was a factory operative, was found on February 24, collapsed on his bed by his sister and brother-in-law who called the fire brigade.

The smouldering fire, believed to have started at the foot of the bed, left the upstairs of the terraced house in Ash Street heavily smoke logged and a post mortem examination into Mr Markland's death found he had breathed in a significant amount of smoke and suffered superficial burns to his foot and forearm.

Assistant coroner Rachel Griffin, said at Bolton Coroners Court that Mr Markland did not have any smoke alarms in his home and called his death "a tragic accident".

His sister, Mrs Carol Yates, told the court that her brother, a father of four, was a kind, generous and hardworking person, but he suffered from alcohol dependency.

She said: "He had worked all of his life and his health was relatively good until six years ago when he began to suffer with blackouts due to his alcohol dependency.

"He had lots of friends and was much loved by all of his family."

The court heard from Mr Markland's GP Dr Natsagdorj of Inhealth Surgery in Tyldesley that he had made "significant progress" in regards to his alcohol dependency but was signed off from work with stress days before his death.

The post mortem examination showed that he was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of his death.

Mr Markland's health was affected in January, 2013, when a street attack left him in a critical condition in hospital. He was hit over the head with a metal bar and 15 months later was diagnosed with epilepsy.

However the coroner said she was satisfied that neither Mr Markland's alcohol dependency nor his epilepsy were contributing factors into his death and delivered a verdict of death by carbon monoxide poisoning from smoke inhalation.

Ms Griffin said: "As we have heard today from the Greater Manchester Fire Service group commander, Mr Markland did not have smoke alarms, therefore he was not alerted to the fire, which goes as a warning.

"Neil, as I have been asked to call him by his family, came about his death under very tragic circumstances and I am very sorry for your loss as a family."