Bishop Auckland caravan fire not being treated as suspicious by police (From The Northern Echo)

Bishop Auckland caravan fire not being treated as suspicious by police

1:10pm Sunday 10th March 2013 in News By Ian Noble, Reporter (Shildon and Spennymoor)

POLICE investigating the cause of a fatal fire at a County Durham caravan park are not treating the blaze as suspicious.

The fire broke out at Witton Castle caravan park, near to Bishop Auckland, in the early hours of Friday morning (March 8).

Durham Police and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service were called to the blaze at 5.45am.

The initial 999 call reported a car on fire, but firefighters from Bishop Auckland found a static caravan well alight.

The caravan collapsed in the fire and the body was found among the debris.

Police are still waiting to formally identify the victim.

A Durham Constabulary spokesman said: "A post mortem was carried out last night on the victim, the results of which will now be passed to the County Durham coroner so that an inquest can open in the next few days.

"A formal identification has not yet been possible but police are satisfied the deceased was a man in his early thirties, who had been a resident at the caravan park since late last summer.

"Specialists from Durham Constabulary and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service are conducting a joint investigation into the cause of the blaze.

“Early indications are that the fire started inside the caravan and at this stage it is not being treated as suspicious."

Shorewood Leisure Group, the owners of Witton Castle Country Park, declined to comment while the investigation is being carried out.

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