Second body found in fire - police statement

A second body has been found at the scene of a fire at West Sussex.

Emergency services had been called to the fire, at The Lodge, Great Finches Farm, Snow Hill, Copthorne, near the Dukes Head roundabout, at 12.45am on Saturday.

The building had been severely damaged by fire and the body of an elderly woman, believed to be an 83-year old occupant, was found inside.

Police scenes of crime officers and detectives, and fire service investigators, have been examining the scene since Saturday morning.

Fire damage made the structure very unsafe and great care has had to be taken to ensure a safe and thorough search can be carried out.

On Sunday afternoon a second body, believed to be that of the 52-year old man who was the only other occupant, was found in another part of the building.

Enquiries are continuing to establish the full circumstances and at this stage the deaths are being treated as unexplained.

We are in the process of tracing next of kin, and postmortems will be held on dates yet to be arranged during the coming week.