Police are investigating the death of a man found in an undergound war bunker in Harwich.

The partly-decomposed body of a young man was found in a historic fort by passers-by walking on the war department land off Barrack Lane.

The grisly discovery on Sunday night has now sparked an investigation to determine the man's identity and the cause of his death.

An Essex Police spokeswoman said yesterday: "It is not known how long the body had been there but there is evidence that there was a fire and the body was partly decomposed. We are treating the death as suspicious until we get information to the contrary."

Land at the Beacon Hill Fort, which dates back to 1870, was sealed off and scenes of crime officers carried out a detailed investigation of the area yesterday.

A Home Office pathologist also carried out a post mortem examination on Monday, but the results have proved incomplete.

More tests were to be carried out yesterday in a bid to find out about the man and how he died, but the results may not be known for some time.

The corpse is believed to be that of a white man, aged between 20 and 30 years old and about 5ft 4ins tall. He may have had shaved or close cropped hair.

One line of inquiry is that the dead man may have been sleeping rough and police are trying to trace a man who has been seen sleeping in the Beacon Hill Fort area.

The spokeswoman said: "We have had information about a man in the area who was sleeping rough. He was said to have had what have been described as two skinny dogs.

"We would like to trace that man and would welcome any information as to his whereabouts or about anyone else who was seen sleeping rough in that area."

Anyone with information should contact Harwich police on 01255 241312 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

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