Police have cordoned off an area of Plunket St, Hastings, to investigate a sudden death. Photo / Warren Buckland
A man who found a body on a vacant lot in an industrial area of Hastings rushed to a business nearby to find a phone so he could call police.
Police are investigating the sudden death on Plunket St, to where they were called about 10.40am on Monday.
Inquiries are under way to establish the circumstances of the death, according to a police spokeswoman.
The coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be undertaken.
Several residents along the mostly residential street said a large number of homeless people had in the past been living in now-torn down industrial buildings on the street.
A resident along the street, who did not wish to be named, said it was "bloody scary" and "too close to home".
He said it was an otherwise good neighbourhood with mostly families.
A staff member at a nearby business said he was approached by a man who found the body and had asked to use the phone.
"He was as white as a ghost," the staff member said of the man.
He said the death was a surprise for everyone as the previous day had been quiet by Stortford Lodge standards.
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