A DISCARDED cigarette started a flat fire which killed a 28 year old man, an inquest heard.

Richard Miley died following the fire at his first floor flat in Waterworks Lane, Leominster on November 14 last year.

An inquest this week at Herefordshire Coroner's Court heard his parents went to his home at around 9.30am and found Mr Miley on his bedroom floor - he was pronounced dead at the scene.

There was fire damage throughout the flat and large amounts of soot.

A post mortem revealed Mr Miley died from smoke inhalation and alcohol intoxication was also noted. Mr Miley had 175mg of alcohol in his blood - the legal drink drive limit is 80mg.

In a statement read to court, Charlotte Walker said she went to his flat with her brother on November 13 and spent the afternoon and evening drinking alcohol with Mr Miley and another friend.

She described Mr Miley as drunk and said she stayed at the flat with her brother until Mr Miley went to bed at around 2.30am.

Ms Walker said the front door was always unlocked and Mr Miley used a washing machine to secure the front door as he had lost his key. When they left they pulled the door to and tried to pull the washing machine across behind the door.

The inquest heard Mr Miley had a history of alcohol abuse. Mr Miley had also been in a motorbike accident when he was 16/17 and suffered with epilepsy. His family would regularly check on him at his home.

Fire investigation officer Sean Bailey said there was less fire damage in the bedroom than the rest of the flat which suggested the bedroom door was closed. He said smoke either got into the bedroom around the edges of the door or when the door was opened during the smoke phase of the fire.

He said the lounge had significant fire damage. He concluded: "A person unknown discarded cigarette materials which in this case is a still burning cigarette near to or onto the sofa."

This ignited the sofa and the fire then spread. He said a cigarette can take a long time to start a fire: it can take several hours.

A police investigation found there was no suggestion that the fire was started intentionally. There was no smoke alarm in operation.

Coroner Mark Bricknell recorded an accidental death.