A POST-mortem examination is to be carried out today on the body of a man found in the garden of a village bungalow.

David Green

A POST-mortem examination is to be carried out today on the body of a man found in the garden of a village bungalow.

Police have yet to name the dead man but the bungalow, in Queen Street, Stradbroke, is the home of John Rudge, in his 70s, and his partner, Evelyn Hawes, 94.

Officers were called to the property by a member of the public who discovered the body about noon. A forensic team was called in because the cause of death could not be established.

The bungalow and its garden - only 100 yards from the village primary school - were cordoned off while detectives carried out their investigation.

Mrs Hawes, widow of former local district councillor, Spencer Hawes, was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where her condition was later being assessed.

A family member told the EADT last night that the police had given out very little information.

“It could be that he simply fell and and lay there all night but officers want to rule out all the possibilities,” he said.

Mrs Hawes' son, Robert, and daughter, Judy, who live in Australia, have been informed about the situation.

Mr Rudge and Mrs Hawes moved into the bungalow about two-and-a-half years ago.

They have been together for several years and previously lived at Long Row, Stradbroke, beside the road to Laxfield.

A Suffolk police spokeswoman said: “The house has been cordoned off while police officers establish the circumstances of the male's death which is currently being treated as unexplained.”

Kathleen Priddy, 92, who lives next door to the bungalow, said she had last seen Mr Rudge at the weekend.

“I didn't know anything about this until the police arrived,” she said.