It took six years for a housing association to discover that one of their tenants had died, a shock inquest has revealed. The corpse of the pensioner was only discovered after his landlord obtained a court order to enter and check the gas supply.

Robert Alton, who was 76, was discovered inside his flat on Hemsworth Road in Bolton on March 9 this year.

An inquest into his death concluded he “likely” died in May, 2017, landlord Bolton at Home said in a statement after a coroner recorded an open verdict.

The chief executive officer of the housing association, which manages and maintains over 18,000 homes across the town, said in a statement after the inquest “it’s completely unacceptable to us that something like this has happened”

He admitted the organisation should have done more to check on Mr Alton’s welfare, the Manchester Evening News reported.

CEO Noel Sharpe added in a statement that Bolton at Home had “made many attempts” to contact him “over a number of years” to arrange gas safety checks.

However, there was never any response, the inquest heard.

It’s understood the pensioner’s rent was being paid through housing benefits.

Greater Manchester Police are not treating his death as suspicious.

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