A 43-year-old man believed to be from St Helens has died in a house fire in Bolton.

Firefighters rescued the man from inside the house after they were called at about 6pm last night, but he later died in hospital.

Neighbours said the terraced house was vacant but that somebody had been squatting inside.

The downstairs area of the house in Manchester Road, where the fire is understood to have started, was destroyed and the blaze caused severe smoke damage upstairs where the victim was found collapsed in a bedroom.

He was showing no signs of life when firefighters rescued him and he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards in hospital.

Police are yet to confirm the identity of the man and the cause of the fire is as yet unknown.

Leon Blears, aged 27, who lives in the property next to where the man died said: "I met him once and he said he was from St Helens and was just visiting Bolton, I don't know how he ended up squatting in the house next to mine.”