A man in his 50s was found dead in a vehicle in the car park of Gallows Corner Tesco, in Romford, in the early hours of this morning.

Romford Recorder: The scene of the incident in Tesco car parkThe scene of the incident in Tesco car park (Image: Archant)

Police were called at 5.50am after a member of supermarket staff, believed to be a cleaner, reported that they had found a body in the Bryant Avenue car park.

Officers confirmed the man found in a blue Volkswagen Passat dead at the scene and are treating the death as unexplained.

A police spokesman has denied that the body was found in the boot of the car.

The body has been preliminarily identified and his next of kin have been informed. A formal identification is yet to take place.

An employee of Timpson, based in the Tesco store, said: “It was a car in the car park, a guy who cleans the car park and comes in early was complaining he could smell something.

“It’s not nice. They are taking the body away.”

Gary Crawley, 51, parked near the police tape while on the way to a meeting at around 10am.

As he exited his car he was shocked to see a body being removed from the Volkswagen.

He said: “They were combing the ground for clues. We saw the body, it was covered with a tarpaulin sheet.”

The Metropolitan Police are yet to rule out suicide while a post mortem is being arranged.

Enquiries continue.

A Tesco’s spokesman said: “We were sorry to hear about this incident. This is now a police matter and we are helping them with their enquiries.”

Did you see anything? Contact Sam on 0208 477 3892 or sam.blewett@archant.co.uk.

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