A FATHER had complained about his gas fire malfunctioning before he died in a blaze in his flat, an inquest heard.

Former bricklayer Steven Billington died in March 2015 after a blaze broke out at his rented bedsit home in Bradford Avenue off Manchester Road in Burnden, which did not have any radiators.

Bolton Coroner’s Court heard yesterday that police investigated but ultimately discounted a “rumour” that someone had beaten the victim up the previous night, tucked his body into bed and placed a clothes drier near a switched-on gas fire.

Friends said Mr Billington used to remove the grille of the fire in his lounge in order to relight the ignition flame because it often went out, and one neighbour said that once the 50-year-old — who everyone described as a heavy drinker — had burned his hands taking off the cover.

Coroner Jennifer Leeming told the jury inquest: “The case concerns his death in a fire.

“The fire, as you will hear, was reportable to the Health & Safety Executive as well as being investigated by the police and the fire service.

“The death was reportable to the HSE because it involved a work-related activity: leasing flats to tenants, of which Mr Billington was one.

“In the course of the fire service’s inquiry it was eventually concluded that the fire probably occurred either when an item of clothing on a clothes maiden placed in front of a gas fire had caught alight, or Mr Billington put a lit piece of paper in the fire, which had then failed to fully extinguish and led to material catching fire.”

In written statements read to the court, the deceased’s friends Sarah Mayo and her partner Aaron Berry said they jointly visited Mr Billington the morning of the day before his death. Ms Mayo said: “I noticed the metal grille had been removed from the gas fire.

“I asked him why the grille had been removed and he said: ‘This fire keeps going out and I keep having to relight it’. He relit the fire while I was there.

“I was aware Steven had had problems with his fire and he had told his landlord but nothing was done about it.”

Mr Berry said Mr Billington had once fallen asleep with a lit cigarette and singed a hole in a pillow, while burn marks on the victim’s sofa suggested it had happened in the lounge as well.

Mrs Leeming said the police investigation had discounted any suspicious circumstances or third-party involvement in the death of Clifton-born Mr Billington, who had at least seven children.

The inquest continues.