A MURDER probe suspect has been found dead the day before he was due to answer bail for the alleged attack.

Carl Turner, 52, of Lindsay Street, Burnley, was found slumped in Walton Lane, Nelson, on Monday evening and died later in hospital. On Tuesday he was due to answer police bail after being arrested on the suspicion of murder and actual bodily harm over the death of neighbour Frank Landsborough.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Turner.

Mr Landsborough, 56, whose family described him as an alcoholic, was found with multiple fractures at his home and died in hospital the next day on Tuesday October 17.

Detectives were investigating whether Mr Landsborough's injuries were from an assault or an accident.

They said Mr Turner, who they described as an alcoholic, and Mr Landsborough had been fighting on Monday October 16.

On October 17 Mr Turner was arrested.

However detectives have been unable to piece together exactly what happened on the Monday night and a post mortem examination failed to establish a cause of death.

Detective Sergeant Ruth Chew said that the death of the police's only suspect meant the end of the investigation into Mr Landsborough's death.

She said both cases were now matters for the coroner to hold an inquest.

DS Chew said: "The difficulty we had was that the injuries Mr Landsborough had were so severe that we were not able to put them all down to the assault.

"We don't believe the assault had been proportionate to the level of injury he had sustained, and this was the difficulty from the outset of the investigation.

"There was no doubt that Mr Turner had assaulted him, but there was a big question mark over whether that had caused his death."

Shortly after he died, Mr Landsborough's family had paid tribute in the Lancashire Telegraph to a friendly man who "would give you his last penny".

Colleen Stoiles, the mother of his only son, Sean, said the former bodybuilder's health had deteriorated dramatically after he became dependent on alcohol.

She described his death as "tragic" and said he was an intelligent man who was well loved and respected by many people.

An inquest into his death is set to be opened at Burnley Magistrates' Court today.