A ROUTINE investigation into an abandoned car led to the discovery of the body of a 38-year-old health worker who had been stabbed to death in her home.

Police were called out by a resident concerned about a green R-registered Vauxhall Corsa who told them the car appeared to have been abandoned.

Inquiries led police to a nearby street 80 yards away, where they found the woman's body in her semi-detached home on a housing estate.

Northumbria Police today named the victim as Sandra McKean, who lived alone in Camberley Road, in the Howdon area of Wallsend, North Tyneside.

She died of stab wounds, and detectives believe she was killed between Sunday night and early Tuesday morning, when her body was discovered.

A spokesman said yesterday: ''Inquiries led officers to Camberley Road where they discovered the body of a woman in a house.

''Police are now treating the incident as murder.''

Officers had established that Ms McKean had been entertaining friends in the garden of her home on Sunday afternoon and had then telephoned friends until 11pm that same night.