Police today named an elderly man found dead in his smoke-filled north Shropshire home as 90-year-old Arthur Robert Edwards.

Mr Edwards was formally identified yesterday.

He was found by paramedics in his smoke-filled bungalow in Swan Hill, Ellesmere, on Boxing Day.

A post mortem examination was carried out on Thursday, but the result will not be known until further checks have been made.

Police are preparing a report for coroner John Ellery.

A police spokesman said although the circumstances of the fire, believed to have started in a bedroom, were still being investigated, there was nothing yet to suggest anything suspicious.Station officer Neil Grove, from the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the service’s fire investigation officer had carried out an investigation in conjunction with the police. He said a report would be prepared.

It is believed a relative raised the alarm and the fire service was called to the home following a 999 call at 8.20am.

Firefighters from Ellesmere were at the scene of the fire within minutes. The town’s fire station is just a few hundred yards from Swan Hill, the road that runs along the back of Ellesmere’s mere.

Fire crews from Oswestry were also mobilised and joined colleagues from Ellesmere, along with an incident commander from Shrewsbury.

Firefighters using breathing apparatus went into the house and put out the fire using a hose reel jet.