A disabled man and his wife who were found dead at their home are thought to have taken a drugs overdose in a suicide pact.

Detectives believe Edmund Tuvey, 38, a paraplegic, and his wife Margaret Morton, 49, carried out a suicide pact at their home in Lancing.

Several drug bottles were taken from the semi-detached bungalow in Monks Avenue, a quiet residential street.

Police received a call at 7.23pm last night from the couple's daughter, who found her parents' bodies.

Detective Inspector Paul Williams said: "Initially we treated the deaths as suspicious, but we are now examining the possibility that the deaths are the result of a joint suicide."

Mr Williams confirmed that a note had been found at the scene, but declined to disclose its contents. It has also been removed for further examination.

Detectives are still trying to establish why Mr Tuvey, 38, who was paraplegic, and his wife Margaret, 49, would commit suicide.

Ms Morton had only returned from holiday in Thailand a week ago.

It is understood Mr Tuvey met his wife at a care centre.

In 1994 the warehouse foreman, then 32, was training for a 150-mile charity cycle ride with colleagues from Marks & Spencer when he swerved to avoid a car and came off his bike.

He was taken to the national spine injuries clinic at Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Aylesbury, Bucks, but the accident left him paralysed from the chest down.

Neighbour John Avey, who runs a care home for the disabled, said: "We used to see them coming up and down the street all the time.

"They always took the time to say hello, but we didn't really know each other that well.

"You don't know if they were depressed, but you can never tell how people are feeling."

Jean Shakes, another neighbour, said: "Everybody is so shocked. It's terrible to think this has happened to someone who you used to see all the time. I often saw them in the street, but I didn't really know them."