BBC's social housing documentary reveals 4-week old body in high rise

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Health

The latest episode of the popular BBC documentary 'Neighbourhood Watched' - which shows life in the raw for Britain's housing officers and their tenants - revealed that a four-week old body was found in a Salford high rise.

The programme - which sees housing officers tackle everything from from anti-social behaviour to tenants stuck on the waiting list for a new home - followed City West housing officer Cat Towl as she followed up a call from the building's caretaker, who had reported a smell on the sixth floor.

Police had broken down the door of a suspected flat and had discovered a badly decomposed body.

The body was believed to be that of a 65-year-old man, who had been a tenant of City West since 1988. It was revealed that no one had seen him for four weeks.

Ms Towl, who was visibly shaken by the incident, led coroners to the scene who removed the corpse in a body bag.

Ms Towl was surprised that nobody reported the man missing earlier. She said: "This is the first dead body I've had to deal with. It's upsetting. What's most surprising is how close the deceased lived to other people yet nobody reported him missing. It shows that despite how closely people live together in a block of flats like this, they still lead such private and separate lives."

The series features staff and tenants from Greater Manchester housing association New Charter Homes – which has been involved with the documentary series since the beginning – and City West Housing Trust in Salford.

Filmed between September 2011 and June 2012 by independent production company Raw Television, the programme is being aired every Thursday evening on BBC One at 10.35pm.