THE body of a man was discovered in a culvert in the centre of Blackburn, police said.

Officers made the discovery on land between Canterbury Street and Darwen Street shortly after 9.30am yesterday.

The identity of the man and his cause of death is not yet known.

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Officers made the grim discovery in the River Blakewater culvert close to the Royal Mail sorting office on Canterbury Street.

A Lancashire police spokesman said: "Police attended an area next to a culvert off Darwen Street, Blackburn yesterday to a report of a dead body having been found.

"We can confirm that the body of a man was found and an investigation has commenced.

"As yet no formal identification has been completed and while the cause of death remains unexplained it is not at this time being treated as suspicious."

The body was found at the bottom of a business car park.

Chris Covill, 22, an employee at nearby Rucomfy Beanbags, said: "I arrived like normal at about 8.20am and didn't notice anything until the police arrived and said that they thought a body was down there.

"There were police officers around him.

"It was a bit of a shock."

Fellow worker Shaun Gleave, 25, said: "I was grinding up metal and saw police on the bridge and then saw a guy at the bottom near the water.

"It was directly below us.

"It was not nice to see and I still feel quite shaken up."