AN eye witness has described seeing plumes of smoke coming from the Wembley estate where a man died last night.

Little is known about the victim of the blaze, at John Perrin Place, but residents say an Asian man in his 50s had been living in the council flat since December 2009.

Brian Litchfield, 65, of John Perrin Place and Bellamy House Residents Association, said: “There was rather an awful lot of smoke.

“That was when the fire brigade was here. Of course all the smoke was coming out of the building then.”

He said the man who lived in the flat “kept himself to himself” and the death of the man, who has not been identified, has left the estate in shock.

He said: “It's always a very tragic way for it to happen.”

Mr Litchfield said family members, including a neice of the man who died were at the scene this morning.

Two fire engines and 10 firefighters were called at around 10.40pm and took less than half an hour to get the flames under control.