A BODY has today been found in a Southampton park.

Police officers have sealed off an area of Hoglands Park in the city following the discovery of a man’s body.

A member of the public found the man in his 50s and alerted Hampshire Ambulance staff who then called police.

A cordon was up while scenes officers at the scene in the corner of the park near the cricket pitch tried to discover what had happened It is believe the man, who has not been named, had been walking his dog when he collapsed at about 1.30pm today.

His dog was found next to his body.

One onlooker said: “We saw all the police and just thought that they were sealing off some kind of route for the Olympic torch relay.

“But as we got closer we could see it was a dead body that had been covered up.”

Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious but it was too early to say what had caused the man to collapse.

A police spokesman said: "We are appealing to anyone who was in the park and may have seen the man prior to him being found unconscious in the corner of the park near the cricket stands.

"He may be familiar to regular dog walkers as it it believed he was walking his dogs before becoming unwell."

Anyone with information which could assist police should contact District CID at Shirley police station on 101.

Information can be given anonymously by calling the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111. Mini-Com users can call the police on 01962 875000.