Poisonous gas fears as four bodies discovered at Leeds house

The bodies, believed to be those of a man, a woman and two children, were discovered in a house in the Pudsey area of Leeds at about 5.30pm.

Police sealed off the area because of fears that the four could have been killed by a poisonous gas or harmful chemicals. The case was being investigated by detectives from West Yorkshire Police’s elite Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, which probes murders and other serious crimes.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: “At around 5.30pm police were called to a property in the Pudsey area of Leeds following the discovery of four bodies.

“Enquiries are at an early stage and police have sealed off the area where the property is to check for any harmful chemicals or gases.”

Three police community support officers stood guard outside a cordon on Sheridan Way, a quiet cul-de-sac about three minutes’ drive from Pudsey town centre.

A police scientific support van, at least two vans from Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s incident response unit and a fire engine remained in the street last night as the investigation progressed.

A Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokeswoman confirmed crews had been called to an address in

Pudsey at 5.39pm.

She said the hazardous area response team had been sent to the incident.

Neighbour Craig Goldthorpe, 31, who has lived in Sheridan Way for six years, said: “The first I knew about it was when I looked out of my window and saw the blue lights outside.

“I saw three fast-response ambulances and I knew something bad had happened. I knew straight away that it wasn’t normal.

“One of the neighbours said it was a family. It’s just awful.

“This is a very nice area, it’s very quiet and we’ve never known anything like this to happen.”