A murder investigation is under way after the “gruesome” discovery of what is believed to be the bodies of two Chinese students in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Murder squad detectives said the victims, who were discovered in a flat in Croydon Road in the West End of the city on Saturday afternoon at 4.30pm, suffered “significant head injuries”.

The body of a Chinese man was found lying on a bed in the rear bedroom of the property and the body of a Chinese woman was found lying on a bed in the front bedroom, they said.

A neighbour close to the scene, who did not want to be identified, said: “I think they were students. They have not been here for long and they just kept themselves to themselves.”

The crime scene is in an area of terraced houses popular with students and Asian families.

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: “Scenes of crime officers, pathologists and other specialists are working to establish the circumstances and the identities of the deceased.”

A silver hatchback car was last night taken away by police on a covered lorry while forensic experts in white suits examined the scene. Police tape was still in place this morning and officers continued to guard the cordoned off street and check cars outside the flat for clues.

The victims have not been formally identified and police are now attempting to trace next of kin.

A post-mortem examination was expected to be carried out on Sunday at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary by a Home Office pathologist.

By coincidence, the flat is a couple of doors away from the former home of a murdered schoolboy.

Wesley Neailey was 11 when he was murdered in 1998 by convicted paedophile Dominic McKilligan.

The boy went out riding his bike from his home in Croydon Road and was found weeks later in the Northumberland countryside.

McKilligan, a student from the Bournemouth area, had recently been released from a young offender institution before the murder, and was jailed for life in 1999.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: “This is a nice place to live and we have been here for 15 years but seeing all the police activity has brought back memories of Wesley.”

The crime scene is a few minutes walk from Newcastle United's home ground where the team won a pre-season friendly 2-1 against Valencia last night.

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