A CORONER has warned of the dangers of using candles in the home after a man died in a flat fire.

An inquest at Stourport-on-Severn heard that 41-year-old Andrew John Green and his 18-year-old daughter, Lisa, battled in vain to flee the blaze which swept through the flat in Sheepscombe Drive, Warndon, on Saturday, April 12.

Yesterday's inquest was told Mr Green, who lived in the flat alone, and Lisa, who was visiting him for the weekend, had been out for the evening and had returned home at about 2.30am.

Mr Green had no electricity tokens to light the flat so they lit some candles and melted wax into two jam jar lids to act as candleholders before placing them on top of the television.

In a statement read to the court, Lisa said she fell asleep and woke to see a small fire on top of the TV.

She shouted to her father who woke up and threw his duvet on to the fire to try and douse the flames before throwing a bunch of keys to Lisa telling her to open the front door.

However, the smoke meant she couldn't do this and her father tried to break down the door while she threw plant pots against the double glazed windows but was unable to smash them and collapsed.

A man in the flat below raised the alarm after seeing water pour through his ceiling.

Firefighters forced their way into the flat and found Mr Green unconscious. Paramedics were unable to revive him and he was found to have died from smoke inhalation.

Lisa was found unconscious on the floor of the living room and taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Recording a verdict of accidental death on Mr Green, Worcestershire coroner Victor Round said the fire was likely to have started by a candle falling over.