THE RSPCA has launched an investigation after an emaciated Rottweiler was found dead in a council house.

A council bailiff discovered the dog's wasted body, so decomposed it was stuck to the floor.

The bailiff had called at the house in Myrtle Avenue, Leigh, to serve an eviction notice on tenant Bernadette Heaton.

But it emerged that the single mother Miss Heaton was no longer living in the house and had not been seen by neighbours since January.

A spokesman for Wigan Council confirmed today that a housing officer and a bailiff visited her home to serve her with an eviction notice last week, but she had already left with her young son.

An RSPCA spokesman said: "We did find the body of a badly emaciated dog in the house. It is being treated as a cruelty investigation.

"We are not appealing for public information -- inquiries are continuing with a view to a prosecution.

"We had not received any calls about the dog prior to the one on March 29 and we do log all of our calls."

However, concerned neighbours, who did not wish to be named, claimed they had contacted the RSPCA anonymously several times over the past couple of years to report the state of the dog.

One neighbour said: "Bernadette had not been living there properly since last July, but I've not seen her at all since January.

"When the RSPCA officers brought it out in a bag it didn't look any heavier than a Jack Russell even though it was such a tall dog. We never saw the dog being walked or heard it barking."

Another shocked neighbour said: "Her son doted on that dog.

"The RSPCA officers told us the dog was full of maggots and now the house will have to be fumigated."

Miss Heaton, a former Westleigh High pupil, is now believed to be staying with her mother Theresa in nearby Maple Crescent.

Her mother said: "Bernadette has not done anything wrong.

"She's a good mum, good at her job and would never hurt anyone or anything."