A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the discovery of a woman's body in her flat.

Police were called shortly before 6pm yesterday after the 50-year old woman, named locally as Jacky Cowdrey, was found dead in her ground floor flat in Heron Court, Victoria Road, Worthing.

Paramedics had been called to the address to a report Ms Cowdrey was unconscious, and contacted police. She was declared dead at the scene.

A 34-year-old man was arrested later the same evening at an address in Warwick Street, Worthing, on suspicion of murder and is currently in custody for interview and further enquiries.

He is not a partner of Ms Cowdrey although the pair were known to one another. 

A post-mortem is expected to be carried out later today.

Detective Inspector Wendy Burton said: "The enquiry is at an early stage and we have yet to establish the full circumstances. We would like to speak to anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious at Heron Court in the hours before we were contacted.

"We would also like to hear from anyone who saw an altercation between a man and a woman who we believe is the deceased, in Bedford Row, a roadway off Warwick Street, sometime around 4pm on Tuesday afternoon."

Pay tribute to Ms Cowdrey. Email Ben James.