A MAN in his 40s was killed in a "serious and severe" fire in a flat in Torrington at the weekend.

The man, named locally as Richard Bond, was killed in the blaze which is believed to have been caused by an ember from an open fire.

Police say a formal identification will not be completed for several days.

Seven floral tributes were laid outside the scene of the fire at the Old British School flats.

One card read "Rest in peace, Uncle Bondie, lots of love Alix, Chris and Little DJ".

Another simply said "Rest in peace, mate, from Jamie and Laura".

More than 40 firefighters from Torrington, Bideford, Appledore, Hatherleigh and Ilfracombe attended the blaze in Calf Street at 5.20am on Sunday, July 18.

The blaze started in the lounge area of a first floor flat within the building. When crews arrived flames were seen coming from through the windows and roof.

There was no evidence of any smoke alarms in the flat itself, although alarms were installed in a communal hallway and landing.

Fire Service area manager Neil Blackburn said: "The building is very close to the fire station so the first crew arrived quickly. A number of people had to be evacuated from the building.

"It was a very severe fire but crews had it under control within 20 minutes and were able to stop it spreading to other flats in the property."

The building, which had recently had a new roof installed, was undergoing refurbishment and had scaffolding erected around it.

Neil said: "Electricity cables were burnt through and had fallen on to the scaffolding causing it to be live and creating a severe risk for firefighters.

"The conditions were difficult because it was such a forceful fire. We located the casualty quickly but it was obvious his injuries were severe."

Calf Street resident Valerie Slatter and her husband Colin were woken by the sound of fire engines outside their house that morning.

Valerie said: "The back of our house faces the flats so we had a pretty good view of what was going on. It was very scary.

"There was a lot of smoke and flames came shooting up from different parts of the roof.

"When the firemen started hosing the building there were lots of flashes that looked like lightning but were actually sparks coming from an electricity source.

"It's very sad that a man has died. I didn't really know him but I knew he had a lovely little dog."

Vera Gooch, 81, who also lives on Calf Street, said: "When I woke up around 9am there was a very strong smell of smoke in the air.

"I got the shock of my life when I looked outside and saw all the fire engines and police cars.

"It's very sad that someone has died."