A DEPRESSED Kirklees Council employee died shortly after being rescued from his burning flat, an inquest heard.

The hearing was told how John Sadd, 49, died in hospital from a heart attack on July 18-a week after he was pulled from his home by firefighters.

The cause of the fire was Mr Sadd's cigarette which he failed to extinguish as he fell asleep in his bedroom after drinking.

A neighbour saw smoke coming from the two-storey Dewsbury property and managed to pull out Mrs Sadd's elderly mother Dorothy.

She saw Mr Sadd was still inside and alerted the emergency services.

Consultant pathologist Dr Andrew Jackson said Mr Sadd's heart was enlarged. There was a lot of scarring on the muscle, indicating severe heart disease.

He Mr Sadd's death was caused by heart disease, brought on by smoke inhalation and respiratory depression caused by alcohol.

He confirmed that Mr Sadd would have lost consciousness fairly instantly and not suffered.

Gillian Ferry, Mr Sadd's sister said in a statement: "John was divorced, living with his mother and was a driver employed by Kirklees council.

"In 2002 he was injured severely at work and wasn't able to return.

"This led to him being depressed. He was divorced and very distressed when his father died."

The inquest heard that Mr Sadd's house had a smoke detector just fitted by Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing. But it was not connected.

Brian McKeating, operational commander for West Yorkshire Police, e said Mr Sadd was found by firefighters unconscious in his bedroom.

He said: "We found a used cigarette in the middle of the fire debris. It had spread to a box of videos.

"The flat was remarkably undamaged.

"It wasn't blazing in any sense, it was just smouldering quietly."

Coroner Mark Hinchliffe said: "The consumption of alcohol probably meant he was in a fairly deep sleep.

"That would have limited his bleeding and repressed his central nervous system.

"The amount of smoke he inhaled was not at a level that would have normally been lethal. But he had heart disease as well.

"The smoke inhalation, consumption of alcohol and his pre-existing condition led to the heart losing it's rhythm and stopping.

"The tragedy is that Mr Sadd was a middle-aged man who had had an unhappy life.

"I imagine cigarettes and alcohol were the only pleasures he had."

Mr Hinchliffe recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He congratulated Mr Sadd's neighbour Tracey Fuller for her `public spirited actions'.