A FORMER detective, who investigated the cause of the Valley Parade fire disaster, today attacked claims that it might not have started accidentally.

Martin Fletcher, who lost three generations of his family in the 1985 tragedy, claims in a book that the then Bradford City chairman, Stafford Heginbotham, was linked to a number of other blazes at his businesses, and suggested that the blaze which claimed the lives of 56 fans might not have been an accident.

The family of Mr Heginbotham, who died in 1995, has called the claims "sickening" and "preposterous."

Today, Raymond Falconer, 69, who, as a detective inspector with the Major Crime Unit in 1985, was part of the Fire investigation team, said the claims by Mr Fletcher were unfounded.

Mr Falconer, now retired, said he interviewed and took a statement from an elderly fan who it was thought had accidentally started the fire by dropping a cigarette butt, which fell through a hole in the floor of the wooden stand before he could stub it out.

The man then raised the alarm but the fire had already taken hold.

Mr Falconer said: "The investigation into the fire was meticulous and thorough. The cause of the fire was unequivocally an accident.

"I feel sad for Mr Fletcher that he cannot accept it was an accident and I would suggest it does not help his grieving, or anybody else's."