A MAN has died after a house fire in Tyldesley.

His body was discovered by the emergency services in a house in Ash Street in Tyldesley at 6.38pm on February 24.

The blaze had burnt itself out by the time the fire service arrived on scene.

Early signs suggest that the cause was an electric heater which set fire to bedding and the carpet.

The deceased, who was aged 49 according to the fire service, has been named locally as Neil Markland.

In 2013, Mr Markland was the victim of a street attack which left him in a critical condition after he was hit over the head with a metal bar.

The smouldering fire left the upstairs area of the terraced house became heavily smoke-logged.

It is understood that Mr Markland’s death may have resulted from smoke-related injuries, as the fire did not do major damage to the house.

Crime scene investigators spent hours at the house, combing the scene for evidence.

It is not thought at this stage the fire was started deliberately.

Nobody else was injured.

A fire service spokesman said: “At this stage we think the cause was an electric heater which set fire to bedding and the carpet.

“It was a smouldering fire which smoke-logged the upstairs of the property.”

Josie Riley, who lives on the opposite side of Ash Street, knew Mr Markland’s father, who has since dead, as he lived in the house before his son.

She said Mr Markland has three children who live in Huddersfield.

He is thought to have worked in a factory in Chaddock Lane in Astley, Wigan.

Mrs Riley said: “He was a lovely lad, Neil.

“I saw him at the weekend and was just speaking to him on the street.

“He would have had you in stitches, he was that funny.

“He was hard-working and a lovely boy.”

She added: “I saw the fire engine go past but thought it had gone further on.

“It is so sad this.”

Mr Markland, then aged 47, was taken to hospital after he was hit over the head with a metal bar in Henry Street Tyldesley on January 2, 2013.