A man who died following a blaze at his home near Norwich which almost engulfed a block of flats has been named at an inquest.

Steven Howard died on June 11 after suffering burns and smoke inhalation during a fire in his flat in Tracey Road, Thorpe St Andrew.

Following the incident, neighbours were told that had firefighters arrived just 10 minutes later that the entire building would likely have been destroyed.

An inquest into Mr Howard's death opened in Norwich on Monday and heard that he was born in South Wootton, was 53 years old and worked as a croupier.

Norwich Evening News:

Opening the inquest, senior coroner for Norfolk Jacqueline Lake confirmed that Mr Howard's medical cause of death was burns and smoke inhalation - and that he had died at the scene.

The incident happened shortly before 8am on Sunday, June 11, with three teams of firefighters tackling the flames.

Following the blaze, neighbours of Mr Howard spoke of their sadness at the tragic incident - and their relief that the fire had been extinguished before it could spread to other flats.

Craig John Hipperson, who lives in a flat below Mr Howard's, said he was first to raise the alarm and call 999.

The 58-year-old told this newspaper: "It all happened so quickly and knew I needed to do something, so I called the fire department and they arrived in about eight minutes or so.

"One of the firemen said to me that if it had been left for 10 minutes or more the whole place would have been ablaze."

Jan Giggens, another neighbour, said: "It's a very sad situation and a tragic waste of life."

Mrs Lake adjourned the short hearing for a full inquest, which is due to be held in January.

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