A MURDER investigation was under way today after a severely injured man was found in a works' van.

Police discovered the 33-year-old Newcastle man suffering severe stab injuries in the plumbers' van at the junction of Wansbeck Road and Park Avenue in the Gosforth area of the city.

Officers were called to the scene by a member of the public, shortly before 4pm yesterday (FRI).

He was taken to Newcastle General Hospital, where he was subsequently confirmed dead from his injuries.

The scene was taped off and police inquiries were focused on the van and a house in nearby Kirkley Close.

Some people in the area said a man was believed to have been stabbed at a house in the street and dashed to the van, in which he tried to drive off, before slumping at the wheel near the junction.

The driver's side window of the van was smashed in the incident.

A spokesman for the van owners, Rapid Maintenance, a Merseyside plumbing and heating company, said the stabbed man was not an employee of the company.

Northumbria Police, who are treating it as a murder inquiry, have set up an incident room at Etal Lane station, in Newcastle.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Newcastle CID, on (08456) 043043, or Crimestoppers' freephone line, on (0800) 555111.