A man's body was found in a flat after concerned neighbours noticed a bad smell coming from the property.

Police believe the body of Paul Coyle, 48, remained undiscovered for three months after officers discovered unopened post dating back to March on the floor behind the front door.

Officers were called to Mr Coyle's home in Hull, East Yorkshire on June 6, after neighbours expressed their concerns that he had not been seen for several weeks.

They also reported a bad smell coming from the property.

Police believe the body of Paul Coyle, 48, remained undiscovered in his house on this road in Hull, East Yorkshire, for three months

An inquest into Mr Coyle's death held on Wednesday heard how PC Stuart Bentley was called to the west Hull flat on the evening of June 6.

'Neighbours had raised concerns that he had not been seen for a couple of weeks and reported a bad smell coming from there,' PC Bentley said.

'When I got to the door I saw a note on it from two weeks prior stating the gas and electric had been cut off.'

The council were called to help PC Bentley gain access to the property after there was no answer from inside the flat when he knocked.

PC Bentley said: 'We entered the address and could smell decomposition.

'We then saw a male slumped on the sofa and it was quite clear he was deceased and had been there for some time.'

Searching the property PC Bentley found mail dating back to mid March and also found some uncooked meat on the kitchen side.

'It would appear it had been left out to defrost but dated back to some months previous,' he said.

Crime Scene Investigators were called to the property to conduct searches but no suspicious activity was found.

The inquest heard how Mr Coyle had lost contact with most of his family apart from his older brother Anthony, who last saw him in February.

Anthony Coyle said: 'We always kept in touch. I would meet him in Hull for a coffee and a catch up.

'He appeared well when I last saw him, but was complaining of a lack of sleep and was still bothered about a relationship breakdown.'

The inquest also heard how Mr Coyle had suffered with alcohol addiction in the past and had taken drugs recreationally.

Consultant histopathologist Justin Cooke, who carried out a post mortem on

Mr Coyle, said he was unable to find what caused the 48-year-old's death due to how badly decomposed his body was.

Although Dr Cooke gave the medical cause as unascertained he told the inquest there was no evidence of traumatic injury.

Assistant Coroner Oliver Longstaff said he was 'entirely satisfied' there were no suspicious circumstances leading to Mr Coyle's death.

He returned a verdict of death by natural causes.