Residents have spoken of their shock after the suspected murder of a woman in their quiet Dagenham cul-de-sac.

Emergency services were called at 6.40pm on Monday to reports of a woman not breathing at an address in Baden Powell Close, Dagenham.

Police and ambulance crews arrived but the 30-year-old, who has not yet been formally identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody at an east London police

Residents in the street reacted with disbelief at the news.

Next-door neighbour Tom John, a barrister, said a young woman called Denesha lived in the terraced house with a child aged about five, a man believed to be her partner, and an older couple.

“The younger woman was friendly and approachable, and would often say hello. I went to her birthday party a few years ago, but don’t know the family that well,” he told the Post.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: “My son told me he thought there had been a murder but I didn’t believe him. I’m shocked, it is so sad – such a terrible thing to happen.

“I don’t know the family but they seem like very respectable people. I know there is a couple in their fifties and I think they have grown-up children. I know they are a church-going family.”

Another neighbour added: “The police knocked on my door at around 7pm and asked me if I’d heard anything. I was in all afternoon but didn’t notice anything unusual.

“I saw the family occasionally and the younger man sometimes picked up post when it came to my house by mistake. He’s in his late 30s I think.”

The house and garden were taped off and a black Mercedes and a black Puma car were parked in the driveway while officers continued to investigate the circumstances of the death inside the house.

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