AN inquiry into the death of a North-East man, whose body was found at his Spanish home after he was overcome by carbon monoxide fumes, was under way last night.

Alan Jones, originally from Darlington, may have lain dead for days at the dream home he shared with Glyn Hamilton, close to the village of Coin, near Malaga.

Spanish police said it appeared that one man had collapsed as a result of the fumes coming from a faulty heater, and the other died while trying to revive him.

A post-mortem examination found that the pair, both aged between 40 and 50, and three of their six dogs, died of poisoning by gas from the heater.

Despite initial reports that the deaths may have been violent, investigators who visited the property on Wednesday said they had found no evidence to support such suggestions.

It is understood that Mr Jones and Mr Hamilton, of Leicester, had lived at the home in the hills just outside Coin, in the Valdeperales district, for more than a year and had lived in the Malaga area for several years before that.

Spanish media reported that the bodies were found in the kitchen, in the area of the heater. It is believed soot had blocked a ventilator.

It appeared that one of the men lost consciousness and collapsed and the other put a cushion under his head and tried to revive him without success, before also being overcome by the fumes.

Police said the weather in the area had been cold and many people had turned on heating systems, which would otherwise have remained unused.

The alarm was raised by Mr Jones' brother, Gareth, who called the British consulate in Malaga after becoming concerned that he could not make contact.

The British Embassy in Madrid confirmed the deaths of the two men yesterday, but the Foreign Office said they had not yet been formally identified.