THE owner of a furniture shop died after he caused an explosion by cutting open a fume-filled barrel, an inquest has heard.

Nigel Peacey suffered 98 per cent burns in the blast at Priory Pine, in West Auckland, County Durham, in January.

Mr Peacey, 58, of The Grove, Hartlepool, was able to tell a policeman what happened before he died of his injuries in Darlington Memorial Hospital the following morning.

An inquest jury at Chester-le-Street was told Mr Peacey died after he used a grinder to cut into a drum that had probably contained highly flammable thinner.

The incident happened in a workshop at the side of his shop in The Old Church, Station Road, which sold pine furniture.

PC Mark Eglington told the hearing he interviewed Mr Peacey in hospital and was told he had been looking for a container in which to steep wood.

He found a metal drum but there was a solid substance in it and he decided to make more space by cutting into it.

Mr Peacey had said: "I picked up an axle grinder and started to cut into it, and the next thing I remember there was a big bang from the barrel.''

Station Officer Ken Dixon, of County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Brigade, said a passing retained fire officer saw a man on fire running from the side of the building - customers had been evacuated from the shop by a staff member.

He stopped his car, put out the fire on Mr Peacey's clothing and gave first aid.

Mr Dixon said the evidence pointed to the explosion being caused by sparks from the grinder igniting vapour in a 25-litre drum.

Wear Valley District Council environmental health officer Edward Rudman said the drum had probably contained some form of solvent, but the exact nature of the substance could not be determined because the labelling on the side was destroyed and no records could be found.

He told the inquest it was possible for the drum to explode if there were sufficient fumes in it to be ignited by a spark.

County Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle directed the jury to return a verdict of accidental death, saying that the facts of the incident were very clear