A PENSIONER who fell asleep on a sofa with a lit cigarette died in a house blaze, an inquest was told.

Wilfred Swindon, 79, tried to make his way outside but when he opened the front door the blast or air turned his home in Cotswolds Crescent, Billingham, into a fireball.

His badly burned body was found behind the door.

Mr Swindon was a heavy smoker and often had cigarette burns in his shirts and furniture because he would fall asleep with a lit cigarette.

The inquest in Middlesbrough was told the pensioner's eyesight was so poor he would often stub cigarettes out on his settee instead of in an ashtray.

Neighbours raised the alarm when they spotted the fire on October 17, 2001.

"The flames were coming out the front windows and front door," said Alan McCrystal, of Billingham. "I could hear the glass popping and was surprised it had got so bad before anyone had noticed it."

Mr Swindon was rescued from a fire in his house a month before he died, when a shirt he was drying caught fire.

Deputy Teesside Coroner Gordon Hetherington said Mr Swindon's death should remind people of the value of smoke alarms and the perils of smoking in bed or while sitting in a comfortable chair.

He said: "There was nothing wrong with his hearing and if he had a smoke alarm he could have stopped the fire or at least made good his escape to safety."

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.