A DAD-OF-THREE died from the effects of smoke after leaving a frying pan on a cooker, an inquest heard.

Lee Catherall, 33, was asleep when the blaze engulfed his flat in Market Street, Shawforth, on May 26 last year.

Burnley Coroner's Court heard how Mr Catherall was prone to leaving the cooker on after he had been drinking.

Watch Manager Phil Mayers said: “The fire service had contacted Lee three times before this final incident to try and give him fire safety advice.

“His neighbours had reported that this was not the first time he had accidentally started a fire.

“When we entered the flat, we found a smoke detector but it did not have any batteries in.”

Mr Catherall was taken to Rochdale Infirmary after being rescued from the blaze, but was pronounced dead shortly after.

His former wife Miss Claire Webb and his father John Catherall both expressed how Lee was a regular drinker and often needed help extinguishing flames which were started by neglected cooking equipment.

His dad said: “When Lee was staying with us he did the same thing where he would fall asleep leaving the cooking area on.

“A fire was started in our kitchen when this happened once and caused paint damage.

“He was alone in his flat and therefore nobody was there to check on him.”

Pathologist Dr Walid Salman, who carried out a post-mortem examination, said Mr Catherall would have died instantly.

He said: “The report shows there was three times the legal driving limit of alcohol in his blood when he died.

“Carbon monoxide poisoning is a silent killer and we found a level of 45per cent of it in his blood.

“When someone dies of carbon monoxide poisoning, it is an instant death.”

Lee leaves three children Kyle, Amber-Lea and Sophie.