A LONER may have lay dead in his North-East home for six months before his body was discovered.

The body of John Aplin was discovered by police after neighbours reported swarms of flies around his council flat home.

The alarm was raised at the complex in John Street, Cullercoats, near Whitley Bay, where the 62-year-old lived alone.

Mr Aplin's nephew, Russell Aplin, 44, of North Shields, said: "Uncle John shut himself off to the rest of the world when his dad died two decades ago.

"He was a talented artist who'd had work on display when he was younger.

"But he was a complete loner. He hated mixing with people. He had no friends and never got married. He would go out on sea fishing trips at night when nobody was about.

"When the family called round, he just wouldn't answer the door."

Neighbour Michelle Simpson, 30, who raised the alarm, said: "Everyone is horrified that he lay there for so long. It is just so sad."

Decontamination workers in protective clothing spent two days clearing the flat.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.