A HOARDER found dead at home was buried among so much rubbish police couldn’t get to his body.
Cops had broken into the home of James Pettit, 63, after locals became worried about the recluse.
But when they kicked down his door at the upstairs maisonette in Birmingham, West Mids, they were met by a wave of rotting junk.
After wading up the narrow staircase, they could see the corpse entombed deep amongst the mountains of clutter but it was too dangerous to reach him.
One neighbour admitted: “I heard it was ten times worse upstairs – it was waist high around the room.
“The police said it was too dangerous and unsafe to move the body. They had to call for assistance to clear a path.”
Specialist cleaners with face masks were then drafted in who took more than five hours to clear the room and get to the body.
It was finally taken away for tests to discover how Mr Pettit died on Wednesday night.
Mr Pettit, a former National Grid worker, lived at the property alone for around four decades, neighbours said.
He suffered an accident two years ago when he tripped down his cluttered stairs and smashed through a glass door.
Yet neighbours said Mr Pettit always appeared in public well turned out. He was even spotted getting into a Bentley weeks ago.
One resident said: “The strange thing is that he always appeared well-dressed when you did see him. ”You’d see him walking down the street with his dry cleaning.
“That was the thing that always struck me – that he would get his clothes dry cleaned and then go back into that flat.
“I went into his house 25 years ago and there was no room to move. It could only have got worse since then.”
Another resident said: “He was a very quiet man but he had a good job at the gas board. Apparently, he was paid well.
“He would get taxis everywhere. Only a couple of weeks ago I saw him getting into a Bentley.”
Police, who were first called to the address on Tuesday evening and environmental health officers arrived in a flat-bed truck the following day
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “Police were called to a property in the Erdington area of Birmingham after concerns were raised for the welfare of a man just before 4pm on Tuesday.
“Sadly, the body of a 63-year-old man was found. The death is not being treated as suspicious and has been referred to the coroner.”
