MYSTERY surrounds the death of a man whose body was found in a car in Suffolk yesterday.

Richard Cornwell

MYSTERY surrounds the death of a man whose body was found in a car in Suffolk yesterday.

An inquiry has been launched by police following the discovery in Leiston, which came a fortnight after two motorists were killed in a double-fatal and police warned drivers to take more care on the county's roads.

So far this year 41 people have been killed in crashes in Suffolk - compared with 30 in the whole of 2008.

Police have been particularly concerned about accidents involving young people in the east of the county - five have been killed in the past three years.

The latest incident happened at Abbey Road, Leiston, around 9am yesterday .

Inspector Jim Gooding, of Suffolk police, said officers were called to the scene and found a local man in his car. No other vehicles were involved.

The man - who is not expected to be named until today - was pronounced dead at the scene and Abbey Road was closed for more than four hours to allow expert traffic officers to carry out their investigation.

Four fire engines and an ambulance also attended.

Few details are available of the incident, though it is understood the car did not collide with any roadside structures or other vehicles.

Insp Gooding said the accident investigation team was carrying out a detailed inquiry into the incident and would report to the coroner. It was too early to comment further on the circumstances.

Police would like to speak to any witnesses who saw the blue car on Abbey Road and anyone with information should contact police headquarters on 01473 613500.

After the crash at Stutton, near Brantham, on December 5 in which Sarah Lee, 24, an art teacher at the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, and former amateur boxer Matthew Anderson, 24, were both killed when their vehicles collided, police said they were “very concerned” about the number of fatalities on Suffolk's roads this year.

Ch Insp Mike Bacon, head of Suffolk's roads policing unit, said: “I am very concerned - every fatality is a tragedy for the families involved, and the impact is felt all the more when the casualty is a young person, especially at this time of year.”

So far this year, 41 people have died in 36 accidents.

Of these, 17 of those killed were car drivers, six car passengers, 11 motorcyclists, six pedestrians, and one cyclist. Fifteen were aged under 25.

Police said speed was a contributory factor in half of the fatal accidents.