A MAN’S body was found at a property above a popular Blackburn town centre bar.

Police and paramedics were called to the ground floor property above Cellar Bar in Blackburn on Thursday morning following reports of a sudden death inside the building.

At around 9.30am an ambulance attended the incident on King Street, followed by a police van and police car.

CSI and plain clothes detectives then arrived at around 10.40am and entered the building wearing gloves and carrying sterile wipes.

Lancashire Telegraph:

A statement released by the police said: “We were called to reports of a sudden death above a bar on King Street in Blackburn at 9.40am on Thursday September 20.

“Emergency services attended and a man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

“His death is not being treated as suspicious at this time and a file will be passed to the coroner in due course.”

As it happened: Body found at property above Cellar Bar, Blackburn

Workers from nearby businesses expressed their concerns and said they were ‘shocked’ at what had happened.

Henna Quraishi, who works at Kings Nursery on King Street, said: “I started at 9am and there were no police or ambulance there at that time.

“Then I saw the paramedics turn up about 9.15am or 9.30am and then the police came after that.

“I didn’t know what was going on at first but it’s a bit worrying to find out that someone has died in there, especially when the building is next to the nursery.

“There’s kids and parents coming in and out of here and they’ll be wondering what’s going on.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

A member of staff at Suraj Palace, across the road from Cellar Bar, said: “We only open at 10.30am so when we arrived the police and ambulance were already there.

“It’s shocking news. We hope whoever has died is now at peace.”

Frank Kay, who works in the Framar Bush Craft Equipment shop on King Street, said: “I’ve been here for 35 years and the area has just got worse.

“It used to be lovely and then all of a sudden it started going downhill; there’s always people hanging around here.”

A worker from another nearby business said: “We saw an ambulance arrive at around 9.30am and then the police turned up.

“A gym opened up in that building a few months ago, and obviously Cellar Bar has been there for ages but we don’t see much activity in the day.

“It’s shocked us really as you don’t expect to see CSI sat outside the window in the morning.”

It is understood that police are still working to confirm the identity of the man but it is believed he was in his 30s, and his next of kin are yet to be informed.