A MAN died in his own home after a fire broke out due to an electrical fault with his fridge.

Emergency services were called to the home of Peter James Cleeve, 80, in Church Crescent, West Shore, Llandudno, where he lived alone.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to the property just after 11pm, on September 24 last year, by a care link operator who had been alerted that a smoke detector in Mr Cleeve's home had been triggered.

A neighbour also called 999 after seeing smoke and flames.

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When firefighters arrived smoke and flames could be seen coming through the shattered windows and door at the side and rear of the property.

Two Breathing Apparatus teams entered the property and found Mr Cleeve on the floor of the room to the rear of the property that was divided into kitchen and dining areas.

The teams extinguished the fire with hoses, and Mr Cleeve was pronounced dead at the scene.

An inquest into Mr Cleeve's death, who was born in Tredegar, South Wales, but lived in the Llandudno for most of his life where he had a variety of occupations including milkman and taxi driver, was resumed and concluded by John Gittins, Senior Coroner for North Wales East and Central, at County Hall in Ruthin on Thursday (February 15).

He read a report from Kevin Jones, of North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, who said an investigation concluded that the fire started at the rear of the fridge in the kitchen and that the cause was an electrical fault.

The report said: "My conclusion is that the main likely cause of this fire was an electrical fault to the rear of the fridge."

The fire had spread, causing 50 per cent fire damage to the room, including the ceiling, and 100 per cent smoke damage.

A closed internal door kept the fire contained to the one room.

The inquest heard that a postmortem examination, carried out by pathologist Dr Muhammad Aslam, found that Mr Cleeve's cause of death was smoke inhalation and burn injuries.

The coroner said it was likely Mr Cleeve would have been overcome by the smoke quickly and would have had little awareness of what was happening.

The inquest heard from Mr Cleeve's daughters that he had suffered a fall earlier in the day.

However, he was not injured and this was not a factor in his death.

He was being treated for lung cancer and had experienced side-effects from treatment, including sickness, weightloss and low body temperature.

His daughters told the inquest that they were at a loss to understand why he hadn't used the fire extinguisher in the home or left the property.

Mr Gittins told Mr Cleeve's family: "I am sure you have many great memories and I hope they are what takes you forward and not this particular matter."

He added that he was reassured that the results of the fire investigation would be recorded and fed back to the fridge's manufacturer.

Mr Gittins recorded a conclusion of accidental death.