Smelly upstairs turns out to be from a dead body

Kim Begbie tried to report the stench to Edinburgh Council on Tuesday but could not get through to them.

As the week went on she became more and more worried about what the smell was, particularly as flies started to gather on the window upstairs.

She eventually called police on Thursday, who found the body of a man at the building in Northfield Avenue.

‘Edinburgh Council are an absolute joke,’ she wrote on Facebook today.

‘No one replied or phoned me back. So on Thursday when I saw all of these flies on his window I phoned the police, who were great they arrived within 10 mins and kicked the door down to unfortunately find this poor old man had passed away some time ago.’

Begbie, a mother-of-two, had reported a similar smell coming from the same flat last year.

On that occasion police reportedly removed four van loads of rubbish from the flat and said there would be weekly checks from support workers on the person living in the home.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Police in Edinburgh responded to an address in Northfield Avenue at around 3.30 p.m. on Thursday 9th March following reports of concern for the occupant.

‘After entering the property the body of a 73-year-old man was found within.

‘There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding this death and a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.’

Writer: Jimmy Nsubuga for Metro.co.uk