A BLACKPOOL man died after fire tore through his flat at the weekend.

Leslie Faulkner, 53, was found unconscious by firefighters in the front bedroom of his burning first floor flat on Boston Way, Marton in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Concerned neighbours dialled 999 after seeing flames in Mr Faulkner's bedroom window.

Although the cause of the blaze is still under investigation, it is thought a burning cigarette stub started the fatal fire.

Fire crews from Forest Gate and South Shore stations attended, along with the incident support unit, and firefighters searched the flat and used hose reels to tackle the ferocious blaze.

A spokesman for the South Shore crew told The Blackpool Citizen: "On arrival the crews were met by a neighbour, who said they were not sure if anyone was inside, so four fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus went inside to fight the fire and search for persons.

"On entering the premises they were confronted by a very serious fire. They found a male person in the bedroom, who was treated by paramedics and then taken to Blackpool Victoria hospital."

Despite attempts to revive him at the scene, Mr Faulkner was later pronounced dead at hospital. The fire caused severe damage to the bedroom, and the rest of the building was damaged by smoke.

The tragedy has highlighted the importance of having smoke detectors in the home, said the South Shore fire spokesman.

"The man did not have a smoke detector. If he had had one, then even if he'd fallen asleep, hearing the alarm would probably have given him a chance to get out."

Neighbour Alfred Flynn, who called the fire brigade, described what happened.

"I was up in the night and I looked through the bedroom window. I said to my wife 'look at that -- there's a bedroom on fire over there' so she said I had better phone the fire brigade.

"She jumped up and she was knocking on doors trying to get people out in case the fire spread."

He said neighbours were still shocked by the death of Mr Faulkner, who he described as a quite man. "He had been here a few years. He was a well spoken man, but he was a bloke who kept himself to himself.