A NEIGHBOUR tried to break into a burning house and save the life of a man he barely knew.

Darren Snowdon used a hammer to smash a window at the property, in Belmont Road, Malvern.

Assistant coroner Andrew Cox commended Mr Snowdon's attempt to rescue Roderick Jenkins at an inquest into his death and also praised the firefighters and paramedics who tried to save him.

He ruled that Mr Jenkins, known as 'Roddy', died in his bed, as a result of smoke inhalation from a fire below on Thursday, March 2.

Neil Lilwall, a fire investigations officer, said the blaze was probably caused by a discarded cigarette or an ashtray that was tipped over.

Mr Snowdon, aged 44, said: "I rushed to the door and started banging, shouting 'Rodney, are you in there? Get out.'

"I first tried to shoulder the door and then tried to kick it but I was not making any headway at all.

"There's a front door and a half door... I was banging on that to try and alert him but couldn't do anything.

"So I ran back home and got a hammer from my cupboard."

Mr Snowdon, who also lives in Belmont Road, said he smashed the side window in an attempt to alert Mr Jenkins.

The resident said he did not know Mr Jenkins very well but had once taken his garden waste to the tip.

He added that he first realised something was wrong when he heard a neighbour on the phone outside.

"[He was] talking quite agitatedly. I came out and said 'what's going on?'," he said.

"He was pointing to the downstairs front room of Rodney's house. You could see flames."

Mr Cox praised the resident for his actions, he said: "You should be commended for your efforts to get into the house, not many people would have tried that.

"Those actions speak volumes. You were putting yourself in harm's way, thank you."

Roderick Jenkins, originally from Pontypool, Wales, died penniless, aged 68.

He was a regular at the Prince of Wales, Newtown Road, in Malvern.

He is not thought to have any surviving family and his friends banded together to pay for his funeral.