DETECTIVES have launched an investigation following the discovery of a woman's body in the smoke-filled garage of her Middlesbrough home.

Cleveland Police are releasing little details about the inciden,t but a Home Office pathologist was due to carry out a post-mortem examination yesterday.

The cause of death has yet to be established and it is unclear whether the body has been formally identified by the woman's next of kin.

At this stage in the investigation there is no indication of whether the police are treating the incident as suspicious.

But door-to-door inquiries have been carried out in an attempt to create a picture of family life in the house.

Last night, one uniformed officer guarded the front entrance of the property while a major incident van remained parked in a side street.

A police spokesman said: "We are dealing with an on-going incident, which has resulted in a fatality in the Cambridge Road area of Linthorpe, Middlesbrough."

Emergency services were called to the gated property in the road, at about 10.30am yesterday following reports of a fire.

People living in the area saw plumes of smoke billowing out of the building and drifting across the rear of the property.

After entering the garage, firefighters contacted Cleveland Police.

The semi-detached house was immediately sealed off while crime scene investigators searched the house and its garden.

The owner of the house, an Asian man who is believed to have business interests across the town, including a take-away restaurant in nearby Acklam Road and property that is rented out to students.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: "The body was found in the garage after the fire brigade were called to the house.

"To be honest I don't know a lot about them other than they have lived there for around eight years.

"They are good neighbours and they are very quiet, keeping themselves to themselves. It was quite a shock to see all the police vehicles and the road cordoned off."

The recently renovated house is surrounded by closed-circuit television cameras and is fitted with ornate electric gates.

A number of vehicles were at the property last night, including two vans and a car, which were parked on the drive.

A fire brigade spokesman confirmed two crew were sent to the premises yesterday, buthe remained tight-lipped about any of the details surrounding the discovery of the body. He said: "Due to the sensitive nature of the incident we are unable to comment."