Most people died from smoke inhalation

The Scottish Executive described the record of fire deaths as "dreadful".

Scotland had both the highest number of deaths per million in the UK and the highest rate of fire injuries in the most recent figures.

And in the majority of fatal cases over the past 10 years, smoke detectors were not fitted or faulty.

The figures came from 2001 when 103 people were killed, up 37% on the previous year.

'Very disappointing'

The principal cause of death was being overcome by gas and smoke.

There were 59,400 fires in total in 2001, of which a third were "primary" blazes, large fires which either involved casualties or were attended by several appliances.

Nearly half of these were found to be malicious.

The executive said the increase in deaths was "very disappointing", especially in light of the evidence regarding smoke detectors.

However, it insisted that the underlying trend was downward and added that new fire legislation will be introduced in parliament to place a much stronger emphasis on prevention.