A body found inside a van in an Inverness car park this week had been there for months, it has emerged.
The remains of a man were discovered in the B&Q car park on Longman Road after a passer-by noticed an bad smell and flies around the vehicle.
The alarm was raised after 3.30pm on Monday, and police sealed off the area for hours while they investigated.
It is understood the body was found in a campervan with a mattress in the back.
Sources have said the alarm was raised when a passer-by called police as she was concerned by the odour and flies around the vehicle.
Officers arrived and found the body in the vehicle. The death is not believed to be suspicious.
The area was cordoned off while forensic officers were on the scene. It is understood the vehicle was moved around six hours later.
Police revealed yesterday they are not searching for anyone in connection with the death of the man, and while formal identification has yet to take place, it is not understood the man is a missing person, and not believed to be a local period.
A police spokesman said: “Police in Inverness were made aware of the sudden death of a man, who was found within a vehicle at a car park off Longman Road around 3.30pm on Monday July 15.
“The death is currently being treated as non-suspicious, although a report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal and post mortem examination is awaited.”
Eyewitness to the unfolding events of yesterday, Graeme Cormack, owner of Hannah’s Krazy Kitchen, a burger van in the car park, said: “I just saw the police and B&Q staff at the vehicle.
“About 3.30pm I saw a police car and a van all at the other end of the car park. I left about 4pm and the area was all cordoned off.
“I have been here six years, and I have never seen anything like this before.”
A spokeswoman for B&Q said: “As this is a police investigation, we kindly request you contact the police press office.”
Councillors were shocked by the news, with Inverness South councillor Andrew Jarvie said: “No matter the circumstances it must be a very difficult time for the family. I hope they get some sense of closure through whatever investigation is ongoing. It really shocked me when I saw that this happened.”
Councillor Ian Brown added: “I’m quite shocked just to hear this.
“I’m surprised that B&Q themselves didn’t notice there was a car abandoned in the car park for any length of time.
“It’s certainly a shock. It’s not something that happens often here.”
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The car park is managed by B&Q and Total Parking Solutions are the administrators for car park fines.
A spokesman for Total Parking Solutions said: “Our condolences go to the friends and family of the man who has died.
“We manage the administration for the car park on behalf of B&Q. We are not on site – parking tickets is a function carried out by B&Q themselves.
“If people are issued with a ticket, which they should be after three hours – and the ticket is not paid, or the car is left for a longer period of time, we would remove the car.
“We were not alerted to any vehicle in the car park for any length of time. We are not on site to manage the parking ourselves.”