Plumber's grisly find after call to fix shopping mall toilet

A plumber who was called to fix a shopping centre toilet has made a shocking discovery behind the bathroom wall.

The worker was repairing a toilet in the women's bathroom at CORE Shopping Centre in Alberta, Canada, when he stumbled upon a corpse, the Calgary Sun reported.

A police spokeswoman explained that the body was found behind the flush panel connecting to the toilet, news.com.au reported.

"If you were to look at the toilet, there's a panel behind it so that when people move it would automatically flush," she said. "When they removed that panel, they found a deceased person behind that wall."

People have not yet determined whether the death is suspicious. The spokeswoman said it was possible someone crawling through the vent fell from above and got stuck in the wall.

A maintenance worker made a horrific discovery in a shopping centre bathroom when he looked behind the wall. Photo / Supplied

"That would be the most logical at this point is that it was from above," she said. "So that is obviously something they would be looking at is someone crawling through the ventilation system."

Yellow caution tape was draped across the bathroom entrance during the day as security guards kept the bathroom closed to the public.

An hour later, the body was removed.