POLICE have launched an investigation after a body was found inside a taxi parked in a Southampton street.

The emergency services were called to Merryoak Road yesterday afternoon and erected a tent beside the vehicle after cordoning off the scene.

A police spokesman said: “We were called at 1.52pm by our colleagues at South Central Ambulance Service to a report of a 59-year-old man who was found deceased in a parked vehicle.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner in due course.”

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service released the body from inside the silver-coloured taxi.

A spokesman said two crews from Hightown fire station were called out just after 3pm and were on the scene for about an hour.

He added: “We extricated someone from the car and had to remove the side of the vehicle.”

A South Central Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called but the staff who went handed over the scene to the police shortly after arrival.”

Deb and Paul Hamilton saw the incident unfold from their home on Merryoak Road.

Deb, 55, said: “We heard an ambulance.

“It wasn’t until they put the blankets over the windscreen that we realised there must have been someone inside.

“The fire brigade had to cut the side of the car out to get the guy out.

“It’s sad for the family.”

Paul, 58, a boat builder, added: “It was school home time so there were lots of kids about.”

A neighbour who didn’t want to be named said she was coming home when she saw the taxi.

She said: “It’s very sad.

“He was in his late 50s. People had found him and they were on the phone to the ambulance.

“A lot of people park here to have their lunch under the tree.”

Another witness said: “There were a lot of emergency services people here.

“You don’t expect this kind of thing to happen.”