A POLICE investigation has been launched into an unexplained death in a west Suffolk town after a body was discovered inside a flat.

The body – that of a man believed to be in his 40s – was recovered from the property by police officers in Blackfriars, Sudbury, on Saturday morning.

A police cordon sealed off the Babergh District Council-owned block of flats as soon as the body was found to allow forensic teams to investigate the area.

Officers were alerted just after 10.30am on Saturday following a call from a woman who said she was concerned for the safety of her neighbour.

Last night, a spokeswoman for Suffolk Police revealed a post-mortem examination had proved inconclusive and further tests would be carried out to determine the cause of death.

She said the man had not yet been formally identified.

The spokeswoman added that the cordon around the scene in Blackfriars would remain in place until later today .

A retired resident, who has lived in Blackfriars, off Church Street, for six months, said the road was crammed with emergency vehicles on Saturday morning.

The man, who did not want to be named, said: “I didn’t know the man who died but some of the neighbours said they heard some commotion coming from the flat at about 1.30 in the morning.”

Another neighbour, who also did not want to be named, said she got home at noon on Saturday to find the road had been cordoned off and a forensic team outside the flat, but she said no-one knew what had happened. Police want to hear from anyone who was in the area between 9pm on Friday and 10.30am on Saturday or who may have seen anything suspicious.

Officers at Bury St Edmunds CID can be contacted on 01473 613500.