POLICE have launched an investigation after a body was found inside a taxi parked in a Southampton street.

The emergency services were called to Merryoak Road this afternoon and erected a tent beside the vehicle after cordoning off the scene.

A police spokesman said: "We were called at 1.52pm by our colleagues at South Central Ambulance Service to a report of a 59-year-old man who was found deceased in a parked vehicle.

"The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner in due course."         

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service released the body from inside the silver-coloured taxi.

A spokesman said two crews from Hightown fire station were called out just after 3pm and were on the scene for about an hour.

He added: "We extricated someone from the car and had to remove the side of the vehicle."

A South Central Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We were called but the staff who went handed over the scene to the police shortly after arrival."