A CORONER has warned of the risks associated with engine fumes after a Hellifield man died from carbon monoxide poisoning in his own garage.

Coroner Geoff Fell returned a verdict of accidental death on Andrew Dicken, 38, of Thorndale Street, who died on January 10 last year

Mr Dicken, was working on one of his two motorbikes when the fumes overwhelmed him, an inquest in Skipton heard on Tuesday.

Mr Fell said: "The situation surrounding Andrew's death is an example of how easy it is not to realise a fuel-filled garage can kill you.

"If you are going to work on an engine that is running please make sure the area is ventilated."

He added: "I appreciate it would be cold but he should have left a door open to make sure the garage was well ventilated."

The coroner dismissed any notion that Mr Dicken took his own life.

He said: "My initial thoughts were normal associations with someone taking their own life. But that was before I had read the doctor's statement and seen the photos."

Mr Dicken was a doting father who never let his children down, the inquest heard.

A former partner went to look for him after he had failed to attend an arranged meeting with one of his daughters.

Mr Fell said: "He had arranged to meet his kids and he was a chap who never let his kids down."

His former partner went to his address and found the house unlocked and the garage door shut but not secured.

The coroner explained: "A police officer was called to the scene. There was a smell of fumes but not excessively so. That would suggest he died sometime before then."