A YOUNG man has been found dead in a kennel next to a family's pet dog.

Father-of-six Kevin Jones made the gruesome discovery when he walked into the back garden of his home in Keble Grove, Leigh.

Mr Jones said he spotted a foot sticking out of the kennel. When he ran over to investigate he noticed that the ankle had turned blue and there was no sign of life when he felt for a pulse.

Mr Jones's 21-year-old son, Lee, crawled into the kennel to try to identify the body.

And yesterday the stunned family told how they recognised the dead man as a regular visitor to the council estate cul-de-sac who had been sleeping rough in the area in past months.

Mr Jones said the dead man - nicknamed Bomber - had occasionally asked to sleep in the kennel during the winter.

But he says he did not know that the 22-year-old had planned to doss down there this weekend.

Kevin, aged 55, said: "I had no idea he was in there. Apparently he arrived outside our house at 2am on Saturday in a taxi and had asked one of my sons if he could sleep there.

"It was a hell of a shock because I didn't know who it was. He was a friendly enough bloke who used to come and talk to us.

"It's such a shame that a lad of his age should die like this. I tried to help out as much as I could. Sometimes you would see him sleeping in gardens near here.

"He would just suddenly turn up carrying a couple of plastic bags and I've even seen him asleep on the pavement.

"He had asked me if he could sleep in the kennel when the weather was really cold and I'd let him so he had some shelter."

Police were called to the house just after 3.30pm on Saturday and sealed off the garden. Mr Jones helped officers to break open his pet lurcher Rocky's kennel so the body could be removed.

Kevin's wife, Eileen, aged 51, added: "It's been very upsetting for us. I had to go into the house when they took the body away in one of the bags because I was so upset."

A post mortem examination was due to be carried out and there will be a formal identification of the body later today.

A police spokesman said there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances.

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