A BODY has been discovered near tower blocks in Southend.

A police cordon was put in place after a man was found in the area.

Residents reported seeing multiple officers on scene and a sheet on the floor within the large cordon and claimed the man died after falling from a window of the Chiltern block of flats.

The tape stretched round the Chiltern flats - part of the Queensway tower blocks - in Southend and several officers were on scene guarding the cordon.

Witnesses reported hearing screams shortly before the incident at about 8am on Friday morning.

One ambulance with a team of medics was spotted at the scene with police officers.

One woman told the Echo: “I was walking my son to school when we noticed the cordon and you could see what had happened.

“I had to tell him it’s just a police training thing so he wasn’t scared.

“I spoke to a neighbour and she said someone fell from a flat and police were still there with the body.”

Another woman, who lives in Chilterns said: “My heart goes out to the family for their sad loss but what I can’t understand is how it has happened because the council put special brackets on all windows so they don’t open wide.

“It really is quite shocking to see something like that and it makes you think.”

Senior officers attended the scene to investigate whether there were any suspicious circumstances but it was determined to not be a criminal matter.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were called to concerns for the welfare of a man at an address in Coleman Street, Southend at around 7.50am on Friday, May 3.

“Sadly, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.” It is not known how old the man was at this stage. An inquest into the circumstances surrounding the man’s death will be held at Chelmsford Coroner’s Court later this year.