Smoker Marc Wilson, 41, was found by carers who visited his Norton home after a cigarette butt ignited his mattress in March.

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Fire and rescue teams discovered a smouldering fire behind the headboard of his bed – causing him to be overcome with carbon monoxide poisoning, reports Stoke-on-Trent Live.

Fire investigator Andrew Huckle said: “There were cigarette butts in the bed and scattered through the bedroom. There was major burning damage at the head of the mattress that carried on to the head of the bed.

“A lit cigarette end on a bed has quite a long period of smouldering, any time from 20 minutes up to two hours. This results in toxic fumes.

“There was a grey bucket that may have been used to attempt to tackle the fire. When fire crews entered the property, a tap was running. The evidence points towards the cigarette butt setting fire to the bed.

“His care workers knew about his smoking habit. There was a blanket given to him that was fire retardant but he was not using it.

“My only hypothesis is that the fire was relatively small but it produced a lot of toxic smoke. Many people think they can tackle a fire like this but a few lungfuls can knock you out.”

The inquest heard how the night before carers had visited marc and had emptied his ash tray.

A Staffordshire Police spokesperson said: “The house was secure. The carers used the front door key from the key safe.

“Firefighters confirmed that all windows were closed, meaning that the fire was starved of oxygen and burned itself out.

“Carers would visit him three times a day. The last time he had been seen was the night before, where there were no issues. He was discovered on the first visit of the day. He was a solitary person.”

The cause of death has been recorded as carbon monoxide poisoning.

North Staffordshire assistant coroner Emma Serrano said: “The medical cause of death is quite clear to me. The smoke produced from the smouldering mattress at the head of the bed caused him to die.

“We won’t know if he had tried to fight the fire before he succumbed to it. I am recording an accidental death caused by a discarded cigarette. My condolences to his family.”