A MOTHER and father were discovered dead inside their home by a horrified neighbour on Christmas morning.

The bodies of Jan and Julia Tshabalala, 33 and 30 respectively, were found by a resident in Groomsland Drive, Billingshurst, at about 9am.

Neighbours said the quiet road was swamped with police activity after the discovery, which was sparked after concern from a family friend.

The couple were reported to be “in deep financial trouble” and had sent their children aged between five and seven to stay elsewhere.

They are thought to have been with a relative while the parents prepared for Christmas Day.

The next-door neighbour who found the bodies, who did not want to be named, said the concerned male friend rang on his door asking for help to access the couple’s home.

He said: “I was the one who got in and found them. It’s been a real shock.”

The neighbour refused to go into detail about what he saw or how he thought the pair came to their deaths.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “They were a very nice couple. We looked outside the window on Christmas morning and saw all these police cars.”

Another neighbour said: “I’d see the man in his garden sometimes and he would wave. She was a good mother, I would see her at the swings in the park with her kids. They were completely normal and pleasant.”

Yesterday at the family home, where the couple’s white Kia 4x4 stood on the drive outside, a police officer was tending to the family’s pet rabbits while a patrol car was stationed outside.

A spokesman from Sussex Police said: “Emergency services were called to a house in Groomsland Drive, Billingshurst, just after 9am on Thursday, December 25 after concern for a couple living there.

“A 33-year-old man and woman were sadly found dead in the property. Officers are working to establish the circumstances of the deaths but are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.”