A HOTEL porter has been found guilty of manslaughter after starting the tragic blaze which lead to the deaths of an elderly Blackpool couple.

Lee Carson, 24, was caught after telling friends he started the fire at the Moat House Hotel in Bolton in the early hours of Tuesday, April 25.

William Robertson, 75, and his wife, Margaret, 81, who lived on Hornby Road, died from smoke inhalation and their badly burned bodies were later found in the corridor outside.

They had moved to the resort in 1981 to retire after Mr Robertson was made redundant from his job in Glasgow's shipyards.

Carson, Liverpool Crown Court heard, wanted to appear a hero by rescuing people from the blaze, which he started by setting fire to three mobile beds outside their third floor room.

The jury cleared him of murder. Carson, of Moses Gate, Farnworth, had denied starting the fire.

The jury of seven women and five men took just under four hours to reach their verdict on Friday.

Judge Douglas Brown adjourned sentencing until April 7 for psychiatric reports. The court earlier heard that Carson started the fire shortly before 12.30am and ran back downstairs to a function room before the fire alarm went off. A fire expert told the jury he must have held a naked flame to the mattresses for at least 15 seconds to start the blaze. Months after the blaze, Carson confided in two prison inmates and his ex-fiancee that he had started the fire and they gave evidence against him during the eight-day trial.

The prosecution claimed the night porter also set off a fire extinguisher and a fire alarm the weekend before the fatal fire.

The court heard Carson enjoyed the drama of the evacuations and wanted to be seen as a hero by rescuing guests trapped in a fire.

The night porter told the court he blamed himself for the fire because he should have moved the beds but was called away to take an iron to a guest.

He added: "I was going to move them later. After the fire I blamed myself because I should have moved them. I felt pretty bad. I drank and took drugs, trying to block out what had happened that night."

But the man who led the police investigation, Det Chief Insp Tony Cook, said: "He is now looking at a long prison sentence and he will not be given any leniency because he had the opportunity to plead guilty to manslaughter.

"The family of the victims will be relieved this is over and for the guests who were traumatised, it may help with the healing process."

"It was fortunate that no one else was killed in what was a serious fire in a hotel where all the guests were sleeping."