The family of a man poisoned by a faulty boiler have spoken of their sadness at his death.

Peter Lewis-Griffiths, 66, was house-sitting at his brother's home in East Grinstead Road, North Chailey, when he was found dead in a guest bedroom by the cleaner.

The unmarried stock control worker, of Pembridge Villas, Notting Hill, London, was killed by carbon monoxide leaking from a boiler in the kitchen, which was directly below his bedroom, an inquest at Lewes Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.

A computer error meant the boiler had been left off the British Gas servicing list, the hearing heard.

Mr Lewis-Griffiths' sister-in-law Marietta Lewis-Griffiths described him as a lovely man who would be sadly missed.

She said: "He was a very quiet and unassuming person who was generous and always happy to help out. He had helped us to restore houses in our spare time and he loved reading - his flat was covered in books.

"He loved sport, especially cricket and horse racing. He was a bit of a gambler."

The court heard Mr Lewis-Griffiths had spent the weekend with his brother David and Mrs Lewis-Griffiths before they flew to Tenerife for a holiday.

On April 9, 2002, Helen Simmons, a friend of the family who cleaned the eight-bedroom property two days a week, let herself in. The hot tap had been left running in the kitchen and Mrs Simmons turned it off before carrying on with her chores.

At 12.45pm, she took a pile of shirts she had ironed up to Mr Lewis- Griffiths' room and found him dead in bed.

Mr Lewis-Griffiths yesterday told East Sussex coroner Alan Craze that his wife had spoken to his brother on April 5 who had said he was fine.

Mrs Simmons said Mr Lewis- Griffiths had been out to buy a newspaper on April 8.

The court heard that the detached house where Mr Lewis-Griffiths was found was served by two boilers - one in an extension built on to the property and the original boiler. No fault was found with the boiler in the extension but the original boiler, which was installed in 1992 and provided underfloor heating and hot water to the older part of the house, had not been installed to the normal standards, the inquest was told.

It had two separate flues which were meant to take carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide out of the building.

Instead of being horizontal they were bent vertical inside the chimney, allowing debris to collect in each one.

On initial inspection, a hard yellow deposit was found on a metal plate at the top of the boiler and condensation which should not have been there had run down each flue, the inquest heard.

Robert Hutty, a specialist inspector with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said the ventilation from the cupboard appeared insufficient and when both flues were examined one was partially blocked and the flue from the hot water heater was completely blocked, meaning gases could not escape and were coming back into the house.

He said the carbon monoxide had travelled through a hole in the ceiling of the cupboard into the airing cupboard directly above and through a vent in Mr Lewis-Griffiths' bedroom door which was opposite.

The hot tap, which had been left on overnight, meant the hot water heater had to work harder, increasing the amount of carbon monoxide produced to a fatal level.

The inquest is expected to last until Friday.