POLICE and paramedics were called to Poole Park yesterday morning after a body was discovered by a council worker. 

Emergency services went to the scene at around 7.40am and found the body of a man.

Police said the death is not being treated as suspicious at this stage.

A spokesman from Dorset Police said: “At 7.40 Dorset Police received reports that a body of a man had been discovered at Poole Park.”

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and the coroner has been informed. The next of kin have not yet been informed.”

The body is believed to have been discovered near public toilets at the West Gate entrance to the park.

A section of the park was cordoned off while the body was recovered from the scene.

The park was fully re-opened at around 10am.

David Barton, of Alverton Avenue, who was walking his dog shortly after the body was found, said he was shocked by the news.

“We were walking around the lake and we heard the sirens,” the 68-year-old said.

“Then we saw the police cars - one was parked in the grounds and another one on the road.”

He added: “I have been walking my dog here for the last two years and have never seen anything like it.”

Marian Davis, who was also walking her dog in the park, described the news as “heartbreaking”.

“It’s very sad,” she said.

“I bring my grandchildren down here It could have been a child that came in and found him. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”