An autistic 12-year-old boy has died after a fire broke out at his home in Keighley late on Saturday night.

The body of Damian Clough was found by firefighters in his bedroom in Kinara Close, Stockbridge, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

In 2007, Damian’s parents, David and Julie, appealed for help to convert their bathroom into a specially-designed wet room for him.

They wanted the bathroom to be adapted to make it secure for Damian, who at the time was ten years old and used the room as a place to relax.

In 1999 the couple celebrated after being awarded a grant of more than £9,000.

They had been waiting more than two years for funds from Bradford Council’s Social Services department to convert their house into an “accident-free zone” for Damian.

Residents in the street yesterday told of their shock and sadness after discovering the news that he had died.

Fire investigation officers and forensic science services were yesterday still investigating the cause of the fire.

One neighbour said the quiet street had been left in a state of shock at what had happened.

Zahid Hussain, 34, of Kinara Close, said he returned home at about 3am on Sunday to be told by firefighters a fatal fire had broken out at a neighbour’s house. Mr Hussain said his daughters were friends of a girl who lived in the house.

He said: “I feel sorry for the family’s loss. I walked down here but the police wouldn’t let me any further and I saw the state of the house and I was just praying for it not to be, but it was.

“It’s so quiet here, there’s never any shouting or screaming and you don’t even hear anyone arguing, so a fire is shocking.

“My daughters are away, they don’t know, and the girl was their best friend.

“So I have got to sit them down, because they are only nine and 12, and explain death to them.”

Neighbour Michael Boulby, 38, described the scene on Saturday night. He said: “There were police everywhere and firemen everywhere and everyone was out on the street.

“After I had been here about ten minutes I knew a little boy had died. I feel sorry for the little lad – it’s not right. You shouldn’t go before your parents. I feel sad for the family.

“All the street was watching and the atmosphere just went down as soon as they found the little boy had died.”

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: “A 12-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene and inquiries are continuing to determine the cause of the incident.”

A post-mortem examination on Damian was due to be carried out yesterday.

Chris Clarke, group manager in the fire investigation team with West Yorkshire fire service, said crews were called to the scene at about 11.30pm on Saturday.

He said: “We were led to believe that there was somebody in the building and discovered a fire in the front lounge.

“Fire crews extinguished the fire and searched the house and sadly found a 12-year-old boy who has lost his life to the fire in one of the first floor bedrooms.

“I think the young lad who has died is well known to the community and we are doing all we can to support the community.

“Fire crews are out there offering home fire safety advice and fitting smoke detectors.”

Mr Clarke said investigations into the cause of the fire were continuing.

He said: “It is not being treated as suspicious.

“It’s not known whether there was a smoke detector but what is known is statistics show both locally and nationally that smoke detectors do save lives.”

e-mail: james.rush @telegraphandargus.co.uk