British couple found dead in Tenerife home

A British couple have been found dead in their home on the island of Tenerife.

The badly decomposed bodies of the 57-year-old man and his 69-year-old partner were discovered in a flat in the popular holiday resort of Playa de Las Americas.

Neighbours alerted a janitor to the smell emanating from the apartment, and when he looked through a window he spotted the woman's body lying on the floor.

Detectives said they believed the expats died from natural causes but were waiting for the results of an autopsy.

A police spokesman said: "It appears they had been dead for several days. There are no signs of violence. It's not common for two people to die of natural causes in the same flat at the same time, but neither is it impossible."

Janitor Daniel Herrera Padilla raised the alarm at 10am yesterday.

He said: "A neighbour had already told me that something must have happened in the home because the smell coming out when you passed by it was unbearable. I think the British people must have been dead since last Friday.

"They had been living in the rented apartment for around five or six years and all the time I've worked here I've never heard them arguing and they've never caused any problems.

"They were very peaceful people and never caused a fuss. Nobody ever complained about them."

The flat was locked with no sign of a break-in, police said.

Neighbours told one local Spanish paper the man suffered from a terminal illness. One said: "He was very ill, in fact he could hardly walk."