MENTAL health chiefs are investigating the death of a man who is believed to have committed suicide after failing to receive psychiatric treatment.

The badly decomposed body of Richard Williams was found hanging in waste ground next to a Reedley hotel almost a month after he disappeared.

Richard, 23, had not been seen since leaving the Hendley Hotel, Colne, on Saturday, July 19, to go to Burnley General Hospital.

Hotel owner Bernard Collins, said Richard had made repeated attempts to get himself into the accident and emergency department at Burnley General to be referred to a psychiatrist since arriving at the hotel on July 10.

However he said on each occasion he had left after being told he would have to wait.

Today Karen Wilson, director of clinical services for Lancashire Care NHS Trust, said: "We are really sorry to hear about this tragic incident.

"As with all serious incidents of this nature, there will be a full investigation around the nature of Richard Williams's contact with trust services."

Mr Collins said: "When Richard arrived with us he seemed OK, but I learned he was trying to get psychiatric help. I even took him to the hospital myself a few days before he disappeared but he wouldn't stay.

"The night before he left paramedics came to take him to casualty, but again he didn't want to wait.

"The last I saw of him was on the Saturday he disappeared when he said he was going to go back to the hospital again."

The discovery was made by a family who own the patch of waste land near the three-star Oaks Hotel, Reedley.

Police said the body had been found hanging from a tree in the waste ground and had been there for a considerable length of time.

Officers were only able to identify Mr Williams after a post-mortem examination carried out by a Home Office pathologist.

The body was discovered on Sunday and was formally identified on Tuesday.

Next of kin have been informed and police confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.

Detective Inspector Dermott Horrigan, the officer who led the missing person inquiry, said: "When we arrived at the scene it was obvious the body had been there for some considerable time.

"We were unsure of the identity of the deceased so he was taken to the police mortuary and a post-mortem examination confirmed the man as Richard Williams.

"The land where the body was found was an area of scrub land and it is no surprise the body went undiscovered for some time.

"It is not the sort of place anyone would go into unless they had good reason."