A YOUNG mother has told of the moment she found a neighbour dead in his front garden.

Leanne Richardson, 19, found the 70-year-old man’s body when she went to check on him last night.

His front door on Park Road in South Moor, near Stanley, in County Durham, had been left open for most of Tuesday.

She went to investigate when she returned home at around 8pm.

Miss Richardson, who has a seven week old baby daughter, said: “The door was open when we left the house at 2.15pm. We did not think anything of it.

“It was still open when we walked back up the street at 7.55pm, so I went down with my torch.

“I walked into the garden, turned my head and I saw him in his front garden, right up beside the wall.

“I have screamed and said: ‘He’s dead.’

“We rang the police and waited for the ambulance.”

Police and crime scene investigators attended the property and the area was cordoned off while people in the area were spoken to by detectives.

Miss Richardson said: “The undertaker came at about 11pm. It was a shock. We did not expect anything like that at all. I have had a bit of a sleepless night.”

Durham Constabulary has confirmed the death is not being treated as suspicious.

A spokesman said: "A post mortem examination will be carried out in due course to confirm a formal cause of death, but at this stage we are satisfied there are no suspicious circumstances.

"The deceased has not yet been formally identified but is believed to be a man aged 70 who was the occupant of the house.

"All the police activity at the scene was completed by midnight, once the initial enquiries had been completed and foul play ruled out.”