A charity worker has said a homeless man who died in a fire could have started the fire to keep warm.

Six fire engines from Purley, Croydon, Wallington, Addington and Norbury fire stations were called to The Waldrons, near Davenant Road at 2.45pm on Monday to reports of a fire.

About 35 firefighters tackled the blaze. A London Fire Brigade (LFB) spokesman said they faced challenging conditions in the house. The fire was finally brought under control at 5.50pm.

Fire crews wearing breathing apparatus searched the basement and found a man who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man has yet to be formally identified and the cause of the fire has yet to be officially explained.

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Police cordon on the Violet Lane side of the property.

But it is understood the man who died in the fire was a young Romanian man who was sheltering in the house because he was homeless.

There were five men sheltering in the house in total. Three of them are believed to be Polish and two of them Romanians.

David Ford, a charity worker who had been talking to the squatters over the past few days, said it would not have been surprising if they had started the fire to try and keep warm.

The LFB had been called on Sunday evening to the building, which is owned and was once used by Croydon Sea Cadets, to put out a small fire in the house.

A spokesman said three fire engines were called to the scene at 7pm. He said there was no suggestion the two fires are connected.

Mr Ford, who lives nearby, said there was a real issue of squatting in Croydon and in London, with workers from Eastern European countries being trafficked into the country with nowhere to stay.

He said: "I am working with Croydon Council who are aware of the situation and they are making great efforts to help resolve the situation as well as a number of agencies who work with homeless people."

In 2011 the house was badly damaged by fire on New Year’s Eve which saw the roof collapse.

A spokeswoman for the Marine Society & Sea Cadets, who are in the process of selling the building, said they were working with the police and LFB with their investigation.

She said the building had been unused for several years but they still checked the site weekly. She added they were shocked and saddened that someone had died.