Preston neighbours express shock following reports of a shooting which has left a man dead

At 6am, residents on Whitby Avenue in Ingol reported that they had heard gunshots at a property on the street.

At 11:00am, Lancashire Police sadly confirmed that, following the reports of gunshots, the body of a man was found inside the Whitby Avenue property.

The police statement said: "Officers attended and very sadly the body of a man in his 50s was found at the property. 

"He was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be passed in due course to HM Coroner."

Before the announcement was made, a Lancashire Post reporter attended the scene at Whitby Avenue where the cul-de-sac was found to be quiet, with the only sign of an incident being a single policeman outside one address.

Speaking to neighbours at around 10:30am, it was clear that the street is usually quiet and they were all shocked to hear a shooting had taken place.

One man, four doors down from where the incident happened, told the Post: “I thought I heard a shot but I wasn't sure whether or not my ladders had fallen at the back because I'm a painter decorator. I didn't think anything of it, it was only when I came out for a cigarette that I saw everything going on down at the bottom.

“There was an armed response, about five police cars over on the main road blocking it off, there were two vans over on the other side and then there was an ambulance. They escorted what looked like a young child away*, but I'm not 100 per cent sure because it was pitch black.”

*Lancashire Police have not reported that anyone else was in the property.

This neighbour added: “The guy who lives there is dead quiet… I’ve spoke to him quite a few times and he’s nice.

“We don’t usually get any trouble around here so it was a bit unusual to see… it’s normally a quiet cul-de-sac.”

Another resident of Whitby Avenue said he was not woken up by the gunshot earlier that morning so he was even more surprised to hear there had been an incident.

The resident commented: “I've been living here for about a year and the road has been fairly quiet. Nothing, nothing goes on here and I’ve never heard about an incident before.”

READ MORE: Everything we know about the alleged Ingol shooting and death confirmed by Lancashire Police so far