HOLYWELLS Park is open today after the body of a man was found lying near to the children's play area.Detectives say they are no longer treating the death of a 54-year-old man found lying face down next to a pond in the Ipswich park as suspicious.

HOLYWELLS Park is open today after the body of a man was found lying near to the children's play area.

Detectives say they are no longer treating the death of a 54-year-old man found lying face down next to a pond in the Ipswich park as suspicious.

Police were originally treating the death with high priority, as it is understood that a knife was found beside the body.

A post mortem examination was carried out by Home Office pathologist Dr Michael Heath at Ipswich Hospital yesterday afternoon, which ruled out any foul play.

First light today saw the beginning of the grim task of cleaning up the blood left at the scene.

Park rangers Bob Frost and Pam Goodwin were given the gruesome job.

Mr Goodwin said: "We left it until it got lighter so we could see what we were doing but we wanted to clear it up before the public saw it. It's not a nice job but it needs to be done."

Councillor Liz Harsant, who is also a member of the conservation group Friends of Holywells Park, was walking her dog through the park as usual this morning.

She said: "I walk my dog through here every morning and every afternoon. I know there has been problems with children in the park but this is very distressing. It's not nice."

An elderly dog walker discovered the man lying face down on the ground near the children's play area at just before 8am yesterday.

Emergency services were alerted and paramedics arrived at the scene and confirmed that the man was already dead.

Police cordoned off all entrances to the park immediately and it remained closed for the entire day while police continued with their investigations.

A car parked in Nacton Road was taken away by officers for examination.

A police spokeswoman said that the 54-year-old man will not be named until formal identification has taken place. She added the coroner has been informed of the death and an inquest will be held at a later date.

Anyone with any information or who may have seen anything suspicious should contact Suffolk police on 01473 613500.