A woman’s dead body has been discovered inside a suitcase at a London hostel by a shocked painter after neighbours reported a ‘foul smelling odour’ that lasted for weeks.
Forensic crews were seen entering hostels above a parade of shops in Southall on Friday night, following the grim discovery at around 3pm.
Locals say a painter had visited the hostel on Friday afternoon, only to discover the ‘body of a female,’ in a suitcase above a salon in The Crescent.
Shops underneath the Pay and Sleep Hostels tonight confirmed police visited yesterday afternoon searching for CCTV footage from the area.
Met Police confirmed it was investigating an ‘unexplained death,’ following the discovery just before 3pm on Friday.
Scotland Yard would not confirm the gender of the body or any other identifying detail.
Patrol cars and forensic crews’ vans were parked up outside a safe deposit firm on nearby Beaconsfield Road tonight.
Forensics were seen entering rooms above a salon and an immigration advice centre tonight.
Shabana Hair and Beauty Salon’s owner tonight confirmed officers had visited the salon at around 6pm to ask about CCTV coverage.
Images from March 2018 show a ‘Pay and Sleep Hostel’ service was operating above the shops, but a banner promoting the service has since been removed.
Businesses underneath confirmed a hostel service is still operating on the street, with visitors regularly coming and going.
A listing for a Pay and Sleep hostel remains online in The Crescent.
A spokesman from Met Police said tonight: ‘Officers are investigating following an unexplained death in Southall.
‘Police were called at 2.53pm on Friday to an address in The Crescent, Southall, after a person was found deceased.
‘Enquiries to identify the deceased are ongoing. The death is currently being treated as unexplained.
‘Officers are not discussing the circumstances of the discovery any further at this stage. There have been no arrests.’
The death has not been passed to murder detectives and remains under the investigation of local police in the borough of Ealing.
Residents said they had noticed a ‘really foul smelling odour,’ coming from a nearby property around two weeks ago.
Officers and forensic crews remain at the scene as enquiries continue.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 3.05pm on Friday to reports of an incident on The Crescent, Southall.
‘We sent a medic in a car. Sadly, a person was found dead at the scene.’
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