Smoking may be to blame for fatal van fire

Firefighters discovered the body in the back of the Vauxhall Movano vehicle on Heckmondwike Road, Dewsbury, in the early hours of Saturday.

Police are working with fire investigators to determine the circumstances leading up to the fire and have yet to comment on what caused it.

But it is understood that, while the death is currently being treated as unexplained, one line of enquiry they are pursuing is that the fire was accidentally sparked while the victim smoked inside.

Identifying the body is proving difficult because of the extent of the injuries they suffered.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Due to the nature of the incident, police are currently unable to confirm the gender of the deceased and this will form part of a postmortem examination.”

Anyone with information should contact Dewsbury CID on 101.