A HEAVY smoker died after a cigarette set fire to his armchair as he sat sleeping in front of the television, an inquest heard.

Walter Garnett, 60, suffered 50 per cent burns following the blaze at his home in Barden Lane in May and died two days later in Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.

An inquest was told neighbours were alerted to the blaze by a smoke alarm at the house and they tried to pull Mr Garnett from the house but were overcome by smoke.

Dave Jackson, station manager at Burnley fire station, said the blaze was focused on the chair and must have started there as there was little damage to the rest of the room.

He said: "I consider it highly likely that Mr Garnett was sitting in the chair watching TV and fell asleep.

"His cigarette dropped onto the chair and ignited the fabric, causing the fire. He woke up and saw the fire and tried to get up out of the chair but fell."

A post mortem examination showed the cause of death was burns.

The inquest heard Mr Garnett smoked and drank heavily and was unsteady on his feet.

At the time of the blaze, fire chiefs hit out at arsonists who could have delayed firefighters by crucial minutes getting to Mr Garnett's house because they were at a fire at Imperial Mill.

Both of Burnley's pumps were called to a rubbish fire in the disused mill, Liverpool Road, at 9.40pm -- because it was reported as a fire inside a building.

However, at 9.50pm with Burnley's crews still trying to get into the mill, a neighbour of Mr Garnett's heard a smoke detector and raised the alarm.

Crews from Nelson attended the fire in eight minutes -- crews from Burnley would have arrived in four -- and rescued the 60-year-old.

He was taken to Burnley General Hospital and transferred to the burns unit at Wythenshawe where he died.

Coroner Richard Taylor said: "This was a terribly innocent tragedy where somebody was smoking and fell asleep.

"A cigarette fell into the chair and Mr Garnett had no idea of the damage it was going to cause and he was overcome by smoke and fumes."

Mr Taylor recorded a verdict of accidental death.