A disabled man was found dead in his conservatory after a blaze broke out in his bungalow.The man, who has been named locally as Keith Chadwick, was discovered by a postman delivering his mail on Thursday morning.

A disabled man was found dead in his conservatory after a blaze broke out in his bungalow.

The man, who has been named locally as Keith Chadwick, was discovered by a postman delivering his mail on Thursday morning.

Mr Chadwick, thought to be aged in his 60s, was found at his home in Church Close, Antingham, shortly after 11am.

Police officers, paramedics and fire crews were called to the scene by a neighbour.

Fire crews from Mundesley and North Walsham found the fire was out by the time they arrived.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named and lived in the same cul-de-sac where Mr Chadwick had his bungalow, raised the alarm after the postman came to his house.

The neighbour said at first he had not realised there had been a fire in the house; it was only later, when he saw a blackened window, that he realised what had happened. A burnt settee could also be seen.

A police forensic team remained at the scene afternoon and the bungalow was cordoned off with two officers outside.

The neighbour's wife, who also did not want to be named, said she had gone to school with Mr Chadwick, first at the village school and then North Walsham High, and had known him for many years.

She said he had moved to the bungalow in Church Close a couple of years ago after living opposite the village hall, and before that in Southrepps.

She added: 'It was not that many years ago that he was riding around on a motorbike with his leathers on. He had developed an illness, though, some years ago. I am not sure what it was…but it had left him in a wheelchair. He had not been well for a while and he could not move very fast.

'He used to be really sociable, but that was before his illness. He tried to be quite independent; he put all bird feeders in his garden. He loved the garden.'

She said she had last seen Mr Chadwick on Sunday, February 22, and he had appeared fine. She added that she and her husband had come back to their own home at around 8pm on Wednesday, February 24 and at that point they had not noticed any fire.

It is believed Mr Chadwick had worked in the building trade before he became ill and had family locally and in America. The neighbour said he had never married and did not have any children.

A spokesman for Norfolk police said: 'The death is being treated as unexplained at this time.'

A spokesman for Norfolk fire service said it was thought the fire centred on a single location in the home and added: 'We will be carrying out a fire investigation and working with police to establish the cause.'