Last updated 16:08, May 12 2018
A body was found in central Hastings on Saturday morning.
A man's body has been removed from a commercial area after being found in central Hastings.
Police were called to the carpark area off Pakowhai Rd in Hastings about 8.58am on Saturday.
The body was taken away by funeral directors at about 11.50am.
The man's body was behind this sheet. It was removed by funeral directors about 11.50am.
Detective Mike Signal said a member of the public found the body on Saturday morning and police were called just after 9am.
It was too early to say if it was homicide, but the death was being treated as suspicious, he said.
The body had since been removed from the property after police carried out a scene examination and interviewed members of the public.
A man's body was found in central Hastings on Saturday morning.
The commercial area has carpet and tyre shops and a martial arts centre in the area.
"The man is wearing a chequered grey/white long sleeve top, an orange glow vest, blue jeans and black shoes," a police spokesman said in a statement.
The man is estimated to be in his late 20s or early 30s.
Fire service and police were on the scene until about 11.50am.
The cause of the man's death is as yet unknown.
On Saturday morning there was a large police and fire presence at the corner of Pakowhai and Omahu Rds, opposite the Mobil station.
There were at least seven officers on the scene, including a police photographer.
Several officers attended, including a police photographer.
A cordon, which was removed when the man's body was taken away, went around the Kerry's Tyres shop and Carpet King car park.
Gagandeep Singh, duty manager of Thirsty Liquor Hastings, near where the body was found, said emergency services were on the scene when he arrived at work.
It was "quite shocking" that a dead body had been found near the store, he said.
A funeral director's car entered the cordon about 11.40am and left with the body ten minutes later.
Singh said the store closed at 10pm on a Friday night, and there was a different staffer working then.
He had not heard of anything untoward happening on Friday night.
A Mobil staffer, who did not wish to be named, said he started work at 6am but did not see or hear anything, other than police arriving on the scene about 9am.
Police and fire services had left the scene by 12pm.
Anyone with sightings or information is asked to contact Hawke's Bay Police.