DETECTIVES investigating the death of a 37-year-old Blackburn man were today trying to discover why his car plunged into the River Darwen before his body was discovered two miles downstream.

Officers said the Ford Mondeo left Tower Road, Pleasington, and entered the water close to Butler's Bridge.

Their enquiries now centre on whether it was an accident or a deliberate act and police were due to speak to the family of the man - who has not been named but is believed to be a father - in a bid to piece together his final moments. The five-door hatchback was spotted submerged in water close to Pleasington playing fields, on the road leading to Pleasington Cemetery, at 9.15am yesterday.

Shortly after, his body was discovered floating in the water more than two miles downstream at Hoghton Bottoms.

His body is believed to have been found on a weir in the river near Horr Gorge, close to a viaduct carrying the Preston-Colne railway line.

Tyre marks close to where the vehicle left the carriageway in Pleasington playing fields could hold the clue to how the Mondeo left the straight road.

Police said it appeared it smashed through a fence, travelled down a small embankment and through a cluster of small trees into the river, which is surrounded by football fields and is a popular dog walking spot.

The windscreen was smashed and the airbag had inflated.

DI Elston said: "How the accident happened is obviously going to be subject to accident scene investigations and reports to the coroner but it is looking like a fatal road traffic accident.

"How and why the vehicle came to leave the road and end up in the river is the subject of our inquiries.

"The car belongs to the man, we are not talking a case of someone having taken a car.

"We are speaking to the family and are trying to establish the movements and whereabouts of the deceased and in particular to confirm the last sighting and circumstances of that sighting.

"It may be an accident, it could be a deliberate act.

"It is unusual to see a vehicle in that location, we need to establish how the vehicle came off Tower Road."

The police underwater search team joined firefighters from Bamber Bridge, police officers and ambulance crews at the scene yesterday.

Residents in Hoghton Bottom watched the investigation unravel in horror.

Kelly Quail, 28, who lives in Viaduct Road, said: "I am shocked, it is normally very quiet around here."

Neighbour Barry Clare, 40, added: "At around 11.30 there were helicopters whizzing around. Curiosity got the better of me and I went up myself to see what had happened.

"I saw them pull out the body,

it had got stuck on the weir."

Fire officers said the river was running at approximately 6mph.

They set-up safety systems, using ropes and throw-bags, to prevent any police divers being washed downstream while trying to retrieve the body.

The Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service boat was also launched.

Mystery of why car ran off the road at playing fields

EYEWITNESS: Barry Clare

BODY FOUND: The weir at near the railway viaduct at Hoghton Bottoms

INVESTIGATION: Above, police take a view from Butler Bridge. Below, the road across Pleasington playing fields.