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A builder working on a house in Wirral died in a blaze thought to have been caused by a cigarette.

Emergency services were called to Rock Bank, off Ford Road, in Upton, at 7.50pm on Tuesday to reports of a fire.

The blaze broke out in the front room of the ground floor of the house and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus found a man in the kitchen.

He was brought out to waiting paramedics who tried to resuscitate him at the scene but he was later pronounced dead.

A neighbour said he heard there was more than one man in the house at the time of the fire - but the police were unable to confirm this and said they only had a report of “a builder working on a house” involved.

On Tuesday night firefighters and forensic teams were still at the scene.

A joint investigation was launched into the cause of the blaze by Merseyside Fire and Rescue and Merseyside Police.

Fire crews have now competed their initial investigation and said they believed a cigarette had caused the fire.

Station manager Mark Thomas said: “Fire appliances were quickly on scene.

“Fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus had to force entry into the property.

“They located an individual on the kitchen floor and brought the male outside and handed him to paramedics who immediately commenced CPR.

“Fire fighters also carried out a thorough search to make sure no-one else was inside the property and extinguished the fire which involved a ground floor settee.

"The initial investigation has been completed into the fire and the cause is suspected to be a cigarette which came into contact with the settee. It is thought the cigarette was dropped by accident.

“We advise that cigarettes are never left unattended and are extinguished in the proper receptacles such as ashtrays. People should also make sure cigarettes are extinguished and cool before they are emptied into any bins.

“Following this fire, firefighters in Wirral will be carrying out a community reassurance campaign in the area to promote fire safety and reassure the public.”