A 45-YEAR-OLD man fell to his death from a Blackburn hostel for the homeless in a suspected suicide.

Paul Gates plunged from a second floor window at Union House, St Peter's Street, around 8.30am yesterday morning.

Mr Gates, who police said had stayed at the hostel on and off for the last 10 years, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Today a witness described the chaos outside the hostel after the incident.

Michael Wilson, who was staying at the Salvation Army Hostel in nearby Heaton Street, said: "I was sitting on the grass outside when I heard a commotion.

"I heard a big noise and I ran round and saw the guy.

"He was lying on his back by a silver car.

"The police and ambulances arrived fairly quickly.

"They put a blanket over him and cordoned the area off and started moving people back. It was a shock."

Inspector Graham Ashcroft of Blackburn Police: "At this stage we are not treating it as suspicious.

"We are treating it as a suicide although we are keeping an open mind.

"The man had lived on and off at the hostel for the homeless for 10 years."

He said an investigation had now been launched into the death and his family had been informed.

Mr Gates' parents, who live in the Brownhill area of Blackburn, said they did not want to comment on his death.

Bosses at Union House, which is a privately-run hostel for men only, also declined to comment on the incident.

The hostel is run by the Ashley Foundation, a charity set up in 1997 which operates three other premises in Blackpool.