DETECTIVES were today trying to unravel the gruesome mystery behind the shock discovery of two bodies in a York bedsit.

The bodies, of adults, were found in a flat above a bakery in Gillygate after a member of the public called the police.

A pathologist was today expected to conduct a post-mortem examination on the bodies to find out what led to their deaths.

A York Police spokesman said neither the identity nor the sex of either body had yet been established.

Staff at Oven Gloves Bakery, who turned up at the shop early today, said they had reported something dripping through their ceiling to City of York Council on Tuesday.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "City of York council staff were called out to the premises on Tuesday and as a result of that call, the police were contacted."

A closed sign was put up in the front door of the bakery and detectives spoke to staff. The morning's delivery was turned away.

The discovery was made at 4pm yesterday when neighbours called a police officer to the flat.

Investigators sealed off the area and a forensic examination of the flat and possessions in it was continuing today.

A York Police spokesman said: "Police were called to a bedsit in Gillygate, at around 4pm yesterday afternoon as a result of a call from a member of the public.

"On entering the bedsit, officers found two bodies which appear to be adults, but their sex has not yet been established.

"We are unable to give further details at this time, but until such time as a cause of death is established in each case, they are being treated as suspicious."

Pensioner and local resident Irene Fletcher said: "I'm as curious as anyone else about it. The police have been here all night, it is a real shock."

A woman, who has lived in Gillygate for 20 years, said: "I am not surprised by this. This is a lively area, a busy street and there have been other incidents."

Ken Lockwood, who runs K&B Lockwood Newsagents, on the corner of Gillygate, said he had heard the bodies were badly decomposed.

He said the flats had a high turnover of residents. He believed a man aged in his late twenties or early thirties lived in the flat that had been sealed off.

Police said they were treating the deaths as suspicious, but would not say whether they were conducting a murder investigation.

The area in front of the flat was cordoned off and guarded by a police officer throughout the night and early today.

The area to the rear of the building, which leads from Lord Mayor's Walk, was also cordoned off.

Updated: 14:06 Friday, December 05, 2003