A farmer who rented a house from Lord Bath was accidentally gassed to death after his landlord failed to maintain the property, an inquest jury heard.

Ian Windel's rented home in Horningsham, on the Longleat estate near Warminster, had a cracked leaking chimney and the walls were running with condensation and black mould.

The 65-year-old paid his rent to Lord Bath but, his family claimed, no repairs were carried out.

A problem with an aged Rayburn cooker led to him being killed by deadly carbon monoxide, when poisonous fumes were pumped into the house as a result of a flue pipe being blocked.

Yesterday, at the conclusion of a two-day inquest into Mr Windel's death, held at the former Trowbridge Town Hall, Wiltshire coroner David Ridley said he was drawing his concerns about landlords' responsibilities to the attention of the Government.

Mr Ridley said he would be making a "Rule 43" report urging the Government to rethink the current law that does not compel landlords to maintain Rayburns and similar appliances safely.

"There's nothing in place that imposes an obligation on a landlord in relation to solid fuel heating equipment," he said.

"Given the circumstances in relation to Ian's death, that concerns me. It's not for me to make recommendations. It's for me to highlight my concerns that arise out of the cause of death.

"I'm sure one of these recipients will be Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State."

He explained that everyone he sent his report to, including Lord Mandelson, would have to respond within 56 days, by law.

The Rayburn's fatal flaw was a 90 degree bend in the pipe, which meant that it could not be cleaned with regular tools.

Following the jury's verdict that Mr Windel died an accidental death because of an "unintended act or omission", his son Ben said: "He was a healthy man who was robbed of his life for no good reason other than somebody couldn't be bothered to properly maintain the property to a correct standard."

The 35-year-old added that it had been a long gruelling aftermath since the death of his father, which the jury determined to have happened between midday of Sunday, February 3 and 4.45pm the following day, when Longleat land agent Paul Greugeon broke in through the cottage door.

"Unfortunately accidental death was the best we could have hoped for due to the circumstances. It would have been nice to have implicated the landlords a bit more for the faulty appliance that killed him," said the agricultural contractor of Trudoxhill, near Frome.

"I feel that I have lost an immeasurable amount. My father was everything. Everything that I do in my career, I would refer to him. I've lost a teacher. I miss him every day.

"I feel robbed of his company and his being there for me and the rest of the family."

He criticised his father's Longleat landlords, saying: "They were happy to take the money but because somebody couldn't be prepared to maintain a property to a correct state we've lost our father - it's not something you can put into words - because of an 'accident' in inverted commas that could have been prevented."

"I have more contempt for the people close to the people who are directly responsible for the maintenance of the cottage than I do with Lord Bath.”

Mr Windel's former wife, the Reverend Angela Steele, a minister of the United Reform Church in Frome, added: "If the law and regulations can be changed so this doesn't happen to another family at least it won't have been a completely pointless death."

Following the verdict, solicitor Ann-marie Gosling, acting for the Longleat, issued a statement.

It read: "Lord Bath and the trustees of the Longleat estate were saddened by the death of Ian Windel.

"Their thoughts are with Ian's family at this time. Ian was a former employee of the estate as well as a long-standing tenant and was well liked and respected within the local community. He will be sadly missed.

"The trustees of the estate have been working together with the police and Health and Safety executive in the investigations which followed Ian's death.

"Lord Bath and the trustees continue to be committed to the health and welfare of all its tenants."