NEIGHBOURS have spoken of their shock after a young woman was found dead in her flat in the middle of the afternoon.

The 22-year-old woman, named locally as Rebecca, was found at her home in George Selman Gardens, Twyford Close, Park North, at approximately 3.30pm on Friday.

Paramedics rushed to the scene after receiving a report Rebecca was having a cardiac arrest, but when they arrived just seven minutes later, she had died.

Police were called but officers are not treating her death as suspicious and formal idenitification is set to take place later today.

Yesterday, a solitary bouquet of flowers had been laid outside her door as residents took stock of what had happened.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said Rebecca had only recently moved into the small ground floor flat.

“She was a bubbly – it’s very sad,” he said.

“I have only been here a few months and she came in after me, maybe two months ago.

“Police had cordoned off the whole area and the forensic teams were searching, but they were only here for four hours. I don’t think they are looking for anyone.”

Vanessa Alley, 25, who lives nearby, saw the police arrive but said she did not know Rebecca.

“It was a bit shocking. I went to go to the shop and I saw the Ambulance outside so I wondered what was going on,” she said.

“Then three police cars turned up and the forensic guys in white suits went into the flat.

“There’s some flowers there now but I don’t know who put them there. I think she had a boyfriend.”

A spokesman for Great Western Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 3.30pm and the caller reported a young female was in cardiac arrest.

“This means the heart had stopped, but it is not necessarily a heart attack.

“The ambulance crew arrived at 3.37pm, but the woman was pronounced dead on scene. We called the police because it is a unexpected or unexplained death.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: “At around 3.40pm on Friday, March 9, Wiltshire Police were called to an address in Twyford Close, Park North, following the death of a 22-year-old woman.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious at this time and a file is currently being prepared for HM Coroner for Swindon and Wiltshire.”

The flats were recently turned into 22 self-contained homes for people on the Swindon Council waiting list. Last year, the Adver reported pensioners at the sheltered accommodation were told 22 of them had to look for alternative accommodation as Swindon Council tried to reduce its waiting list for general housing.

A relative of one of the elderly residents in the sheltered accommodation said police were often being called to the new flats.

He said: “Elderly and frail people still live in the adjacent sheltered housing complex. Police activity in the new converted flats has become a regular occurence.”

A Swindon Council spokesman said: “The new tenants have only recently moved in. We are aware of the concerns of some local residents and can reassure them that we are looking closely at the situation.”