THE body of a man lay unnoticed at his York home for more than a week, it emerged today.

The alarm was raised when the man, believed to be a security guard, failed to show up for work.

His employer visited the house, in Thoresby Road, Acomb, and was confronted by an "awful" smell.

Concerned, he contacted the police who broke into the house and made the grisly discovery.

Neighbours today spoke of their sadness at the death of a quiet man who kept himself to himself.

Bill Gibson, who lives next door, said the man, known only to him as Nick, had been living in the flat for about two months.

"It was a real shock to everyone round here when we found out what had happened," he said.

"He was only a young man."

Mr Gibson said he had not seen his neighbour, who he said came across as a "loner", for about a week before the man's employer came to the flat looking for him.

"He had a look around but couldn't see anything, then I think he must have looked through the letterbox because he came back saying there had been an awful smell and immediately rang the police," he said.

The man's body was removed from the ground floor flat on Monday. Mr Gibson said it was believed the man's mother lived in America and that he had no other family in the UK. The man was thought to be aged 29.

Another neighbour said residents only ever saw the man leaving for or returning from work and was not well known to them.

"But it's heartbreaking to think he was in there for so long before anyone found him," she said.

York CID has found "no suspicious circumstances."

York coroner's officer George Rawling said an inquest into the death would be opened after the body was formally identified.

Picture: The flat in Thoresby Road where the body was found