The body of a man remained in his Oxford flat for about three weeks, an inquest heard.

Roy Bowdrey, 59, was found dead at his home in Cowley Road on August 14 last year after a neighbour, Terence Brown, called the police.

Mr Brown told the inquest in Oxford: "I used to see Mr Bowdrey occasionally and say hello to him, but he kept very much to himself.

"At the end of July, I noticed the blinds on his flat were down, but thought he had gone away and gave it no more thought."

Mr Brown said he then noticed a strange smell coming from Mr Bowdrey's flat and called the police after flies came out of the letter box when he and the postman tried to look inside. Dr Colin Clelland, of the John Radcliffe Hospital, said a post mortem examination was unable to establish the cause of Mr Bowdrey's death due to the decomposed state of his body.

Pc Jane Tregurtha, from Cowley police station, who went to Mr Bowdrey's flat, said the front door was secure and there was no sign the property had been disturbed.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said he had no choice but to record an open verdict because the cause of Mr Bowdrey's death could not be established.