Four men have been charged with murder after a 53-year-old was found dead at a house in Nelson at the weekend.

Police were called by the North West Ambulance Service around 5.20am on Sunday, November 5, after the man, who has been named as Andrej Minin, was discovered dead at the property.

His family are being supported by specially trained officers. A Home Office post-mortem examination found that Andrei died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and neck.

As a result of their enquiries, police arrested three people on suspicion of murder on Sunday and a fourth man on Tuesday.

Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, officers have charged all four men with murder.

Waldemar Bernacki, 51, Laimonas Prascevicius, 53, Vasile Olaru, 56, and Rimantas Vystartas, 54, all of Fir Street, Nelson were charged and have been remanded into custody to appear at Burnley Magistrates' Court today (Thursday, November 9).

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Haworth-Oates, of Lancashire Police's Major Investigation Team, said: “Andrej lost his life after being the victim of a serious and sustained assault and my thoughts are with his loved ones.

“The people charged with his murder were well known to Andrej and I know that the offence has had an impact upon the local community, some of whom knew all of the men involved.

“Although we have charged four men, our investigation is at an early stage and I would appeal to anyone with information about the people involved to come forward as it may assist our understanding of what led to this tragic outcome.”

Anyone with information is asked to email police at forcecontrolroom@lancashire.police.uk or call 101 quoting log number 0259 of Sunday, November 5.

Information can also be passed to independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111.