POLICE are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found among bins.

She was discovered by refuse workers doing their rounds in Millbrook Road East, Southampton, near a block of flats.

Police are treating the death as “unexplained”

with a post-mortem examination set to take place in the next few days.

Daily Echo:

Officers set up a cordon yesterday while forensics teams carried out their investigations.

It sparked chaos and confusion among local workers trying to get through rush-hour traffic to their jobs in nearby Mountbatten Business Centre.

Police and paramedics arrived on the scene at about 8.30am and closed the road for about four hours while they carried out enquiries.

Nearby Bourne Road and Edith Haisman Close were also blocked off.

A Hampshire police spokesman said in a statement: “At 8.34am on Monday, June 23, refuse workers discovered the body of a woman close to a bin area on Millbrook Road East.

“At this time the death is being treated as unexplained. A post-mortem examination will take place in due course.”

Daily Echo:

It is understood that the dead woman may have been homeless, according to reports from some of the local workers.

Alison Cross, of Capital Group Finance Solutions, said: “A policeman came round here and said there was nothing for us to worry about and that they think it might be a homeless person and that it wasn’t suspicious.”

A woman who lives in the flats near where the body was found said: “The police came by this morning and spoke to me briefly and from what they told me it sounds like this woman was not from around here, unless they were just saying that to reassure me.

“It’s horrible. It’s certainly not something you expect to wake up to when you see a tent being erected in front of your building.”

Police also asked residents and businesses whether they had seen anything suspicious over the weekend.

Personal Training, in Millbrook Road East, said he arrived for work at 6.30am but was unaware of what had happened until after the police arrived.

Daily Echo:

He said: “There was nothing out of the ordinary this morning and we had people in over the weekend and they didn’t see anything, either.

“The police have been round and they have been very good at reassuring everyone. It’s not nice to have this happen on your doorstep but the police have done a good job keeping everything under control.”

Chris Williams, director of Shire Systems Ltd, in the Mountbatten Business Centre, within the cordon and 100 yards from the scene, said: “One of my staff phoned me prior and said you can’t get into work because they have blocked the access.

“When I arrived there was a dustcart. I saw refuse workers sitting around – obviously they were trying to get to grips with what happened.

“I guess if I found the same on the doorstep when I came into work I would be suitably distressed.”

Meanwhile a Southampton City Council spokeswoman confirmed that the refuse truck involved was theirs and that the refuse workers were employed by the city council.

She said the council was unable to comment further.

Daily Echo:

It is the second time in just ten days that a body has been found in the road after 26-year-old Belinda Dalby was discovered at nearby Jordan House hostel, as reported by the Daily Echo.

C a r o l Byrne, 43, a shop assistant from Edith Haisman Close, said: “I’m quite surprised.

It’s a non-residential area. It just seems to be unlucky with deaths.

“This is a family street and for children to go to school and see the road blocked by police, it’s quite shocking.”

Debbie Wilson, 45, an ice-cream maker and mum-of-three, from Edith Haisman Close, said: “It makes me feel vulnerable and unsafe in my own neighbourhood and I have lived here for 15 years.

“I’m in shock. I was wondering what was going on when I saw the police, then my daughter came and told me what it was.”