Harehills: Neighbours tell of shock and fears after woman's body found on Leeds estate

But one neighbour on the Harehills estate told the Yorkshire Evening Post how residents in the area are now "getting immune" to reports of crime due to its prevalence.

It comes as detectives today said they were investigating the "suspicious" death of a woman on Brown Hill Terrace, after finding her body this week. Officers were called to the property at 3pm on Monday and a cordon remained in place on the street today (Wednesday), as investigations continued.

Speaking to the YEP, the neighbour, who has lived on the estate since the 1980s, said : "I was really shocked but not surprised and that is the worrying thing. We are getting immune to these things now and it's awful."

She said the estate had declined over the decades and that now many residents don't venture out of their homes at night and were are "afraid to look at passers by in the eyes".

The neighbour said that in the years after she moved to her home in the late 1980s there was a friendly community feel to the area which she believes has since been lost.

She said: "You see police and you hear them and you don't flinch anymore because you don't think 'Oh my God, what's happened?'. You just think 'Here we go again'. It's become a common occurrence."

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The woman said many residents now "keep ourselves to ourselves". She added: "It used to be that we'd offer anybody help but now we just try not to get involved.

"It's sad but so many people are armed these days it makes you frightened to even speak to some people or look them in the eye."

She added: "We don't get to know our neighbours like we used to. We all looked out for each other once upon a time. Now it's a case of 'here today and gone tomorrow'."

The woman and other neighbours told the YEP that they hadn't heard police arrive on Monday and were only aware of the incident when they saw around nine police vehicles parked in the area on Tuesday.

Senior Investigation officer, Detective Chief Inspector, James Entwistle, said: "We are treating this death as suspicious and would appeal for anyone who has any information about the incident or to contact us by calling 101 quoting reference 0930 of 12/2."

Alternatively, call independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.