WESTGATE DEATH: Police not treating incident as 'suspicious' after builder tells of shock at finding body

AN INVESTIGATION was under way last night after the body of a man was found on the site of the new Westgate Centre yesterday morning.

Police officers were spotted on the roof of the new John Lewis store, with PCSOs stationed near the building site entrance in Thames Street.

The force said last night investigators were working to establish the cause of death, but added it was being treated as 'unexplained'.

Officers are not treating the incident as suspicious. 

A spokeswoman said: "Formal identification is yet to take place and officers are working to locate the person’s next of kin."

One of the workers at the centre who found the body said he believed he was aged between 18 and 21 and told the Oxford Mail of his shock.

The builder, who did not want to be identified, said it appeared that the young man had fallen from the John Lewis building.

It is understood the deceased was not a worker on the site of the £440m shopping centre which is due to open in three weeks.

The worker said he and two others spotted the body and called the police and site manager immediately.

He added: "We travel up from Wales so we are always here first.

"We got here about 6.40am and walked up the stairs and there was a body on the floor.

"The police and ambulance were there within five minutes.

"It looked like he had fallen. There was nothing to identify him on him.

"We stayed back from it all. We were a bit choked up."

The builder said nobody knew how the man would have got into the site or potentially onto the John Lewis building, adding an investigation was ongoing.

Work was halted on that area, understood to be called Block Three, as police started their investigation.

Workers were sent away from the Westgate in the morning but some returned to work in the afternoon.

The Health and Safety Executive told the Oxford Mail it had been notified of the incident and was assisting police in their investigation.

The reports that someone fell from an upper floor of the site have not been confirmed by police or contractors.

When asked how a person could get in and onto the roof one worker said: "That's what they are going to have to investigate.

"It's supposed to be all sealed off."

A spokeswoman for Westgate Oxford Alliance: "We are aware of an incident at the Westgate Oxford site, and the site is partially closed.

"The emergency services are investigating and we are, therefore, unable to make any further comment at this stage."

There is no word as to whether this will delay construction.