Bewildered cops are investigating after a pensioner appeared to spontaneously combust during a quiet Sunday afternoon walk.

Horrified passersby desperately tried to douse the flames after John Nolan, 70, mysteriously caught fire near Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart lane stadium in North London.

The retired construction worker, from County Mayo, Ireland, was airlifted to a specialist hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, with burns to 65 per cent of his body but sadly died from his injuries the next day.

Police are yet to establish what caused the fire and an investigation by the London Fire Brigade found there was no accelerant on the pensioner.

Mr Nolan had been walking along Orchard Place – just a few streets away from his home in Tottenham – at about 1pm on September 17 when he went up in flames.

A post-mortem examination gave his cause of death as severe burns and an inquest will open at Barnet Coroner’s Court in March next year.

PC Damien Ait-Amer said: “We have spoken with a number of witnesses who saw Mr Nolan ablaze, but we have yet to establish how the fire started.

“Mr Nolan was a well-liked member of the community and none of our enquiries so far have indicated that he had been involved in a dispute of any sort.

“Nor does any account given by witnesses suggest that he had been in contact with another person at the time of the fire.”

No arrests have been made and his death is being treated as unexplained.

Mr Nolan’s family spoke of their heartbreak as they paid tribute shortly after his death.

His brother-in-law Tom Byrne told the Irish Post: “John wouldn’t hurt so much as a butterfly.

“In fact he’d find a way to bring the butterfly home and care for it.

“He was a gentle man who would do anything you asked of him.”

The Irishman had followed his sister Mary from Swinford to London in the 1960s, before their three other siblings followed.

Mr Nolan worked in the construction industry until the 1980s when he suffered a stroke, which forced him to retire.

Friends remember him as a “very kind” and “softly-spoken” man who “kept himself to himself”.

One neighbour recalled how they bonded over a shared love of animals and said Mr Nolan had a three-legged dog, which he rescued after another man passed away.

Pam McGuigan added: “He never passed without a hello, a good morning or a good evening. He was always pleasant to everyone, and you never heard him say a cross word to anybody.”

Anyone who witnessed the incident but has yet to speak with police is urged to call PC Damien Ait-Amer via 101.

Source: thesun.co.uk