Police secure area as four bodies are found in a house

Police have confirmed that the bodies of four adults have been found at a house in Newcastle today.

The discovery was made at around 6.15am at an address in the Benwell area of the city after a man earlier walked into a police station.

The area around the house has been sealed off and the man is being held in custody, Northumbria Police said.

Police said that no-one else was being sought in connection with the incident.

Inquiries are continuing at the property in Benwell Grove, a spokesperson said.

It was unclear initially whether an apparent controlled explosion close to the police station where the man was detained was related to the incident at the house.

A bystander said that he had seen a bomb disposal unit move in close to the Westgate Road police station shortly before a blast was heard around 11am.

No-one from Northumbria Police was available to comment on the explosion.

A witness near the police station said: "A bomb disposal squad pulled away and left a robot with one of those arms there.

"They stayed at the end of the road, there was a controlled explosion at what looked like right next to the Westgate Road police station."

He added that the explosion appeared to have been in a side-street next to the police station.

A resident of Benwell Grove today spoke of her shock at the discovery.

The 25-year-old, who did not want to be named, said she lived just a few doors from the scene of the tragedy, said the house was occupied by a married couple in their 60s who she named as Peter and Josephine Purcell.

She said: "They just kept themselves to themselves and were very nice people.

"Sadly they lost their daughter to cancer last year and she was only 32.

"Nobody knows what has happened, but everyone is shocked."

Residents have been moved from their homes to a nearby school, the woman said.

"I can't get into my own house and everyone else has gone off to the school," she said.

An Asian man who used to live next door to the house where the bodies were discovered said the occupants were a "very, very nice family" who had lived there for a very long time.

The 32-year-old, who did not want to be named, said he had lived in the area for around 20 years and lived next door to Benwell Grove in the mid-1990s before moving out.

He said: "This is terrible. There is a mixture of Asian and white families living in Benwell Grove, slightly more Asian, but everyone gets on well together."

Copyright - Press Association 2006