A WOMAN found stabbed to death in a Southampton flat has tonight be named by police.

The body of Anita Bawtree, 34, was discovered at a flat in Freemantle.

Detectives are tonight continuing to question a 54-year-old at Lyndhurst police station, where he is being held on suspicion of murder.

Officers were called to Paynes Road, Freemantle, after a domestic incident.

A spokesman said specialist officers including trained police negotiators were sent to the scene in the early hours of this morning.

When they arrived the woman's body was found inside the flat.

Police confirmed she died of stab wounds and a post mortem examination was carried out today.

Five police vans were parked outside the flats in Napier House while officers carried out an investigation into the death.

The scene was sealed off with blue and white police tape while forensic officers examined the scene.

A metallic blue Ford Focus parked behind the flats was removed by police for further examination.

The cordon was lifted at 4pm although officers are stationed at the entrance to building and on the second floor.

A resident told the Daily Echo: “We’re all shocked.

“We were woken up with a kerfuffle at 3.30am, when the police arrived.

“I think it must have been going on for some time before that.

“We haven’t been told anything, just that it was a domestic incident that got out of hand.

“I didn’t know the couple very well but we used to have small talk about our cats.

“She used to talk about her cat a lot. They both seemed very normal.

“I think the girl was in her mid to late 30s and I understand she had suffered a stroke earlier in life, which made her seem a little odd when you first met her.

“I think her partner was in his early 50s.

“We haven’t heard much from the police, they’ve been asking more questions than giving answers but some people are saying she was stabbed.”

The couple lived in a second-floor flat.

One resident who wished to remain anonymous said: “The first I heard was around 2am when I was woken up by a man shouting.

“He was swearing and shouting but it was all a little bit vague. Then it stopped.

“Later on I was woken up by a police dog. I was really shocked when I came out and heard from neighbours that a body had been found.”

Police have been interviewing nearby residents and officers have been guarding the cordon, checking residents of Napier House in and out.

A spokeswoman for South Central Ambulance service said they were called at 3.15am this morning to reports of an assault.

They sent on ambulance crew, a rapid response unit and an ambulance officer to the scene, where one person was confirmed dead.