RESIDENTS in Ebchester spoke of their shock after a man died in a blazing car just yards from their homes.
Firefighters discovered the body of a man after dousing the flames of what they thought was a routine car fire in Shaw Lane on the outskirts of the village at breakfast time last Thursday.
After extinguishing the blaze in the Daihatsu four-wheel-drive vehicle, parked on the road side, they found a badly burned body slumped in the driver's seat.
Police believe the dead man is George Armstrong, 66, a retired water board worker, who lived with his wife in The Dene at Medomsley.
Vin Welch, father of former Coronation Street actress Denise Welch and an Ebchester resident, said: "It is all really quite shocking. I am very sad for him and his family."
Detectives from Consett CID, headed by new Det Insp Dave Wolfe, spent the morning investigating the scene with fire brigade specialists.
A spokesman for Durham Police said: "Although inquiries are continuing, there don't appear to be any suspicious circumstances."
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