A MURDER investigation has been launched after a woman’s body was found at her home in Adlington.

Police were called to the semi-detached house in Harrison Road just after 5pm yesterday after someone reported concerns about the safety of a woman.

They smashed a living room window to get into the house, where they found the body of the woman, aged in her 50s, and pronounced her dead at the scene.

A 54-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is in police custody.

Neighbours have spoken of their shock about the death of the woman, who is believed to have lived at the house with her husband.

Derek Scott, aged 39, who lived next door to the couple, said: “I thought it must be a murder investigation when I saw the police.

"I never heard them inside the house other than the doors shutting.

"They always seemed really nice to each other.

"They were always trying to argue with me and my brother, who I live with.

"The people who lived in my house before me left because of them."

He added: “I gave my dog, a cross breed whippet, away as he would taunt it through the window. The couple were elusive - I never saw them much.”


MORE:


He said the arrested man would spend hours cleaning his green Toyota Yaris car and the woman would tend to the garden.

People would often see him washing his car, several times a week, in his dressing gown.

Audra Ashton, aged 47, a resident of Harrison Road, said: “I saw an ambulance and two police cars and the window being smashed.

"It was horrible. He wasn’t there when police broke in. Children on the road were playing and saw the body brought out.

“The couple did not associate with anybody.

"We had a party for the Royal Wedding and she wasn’t allowed to come.

"She was a lovely woman but stopped talking to everybody.

"She took pride in her house and was always cleaning. I felt sorry for her."

Hazel Baxendale, of Oxford Road, Adlington, said: “My stomach is still turning about what’s happened.

"People have been phoning me to ask me what has happened as I live on the road behind the house.

"You read about these things but you don’t expect it to be on your doorstep. I have never known anything like this to happen in the area.”

Nancy Price, aged 76, who lives opposite the suspected murder scene, said: “The man was always outside tinkering with his car in his dressing gown.

"I had only spoken to the woman once before she moved in. It’s tragic.”

Neighbours said they did not think the couple had children and believed they used to live in Coppull, near Chorley, before moving to Adlington about three years ago.

The man’s car was not on the drive when police arrived. It is believed the couple were unemployed and lived in a housing association property.

Police said the investigation is "in the early stages".

A Home Office post mortem examination is due to be carried out today to establish the cause of the woman's death.