A man has been found dead inside an overturned car near a lighthouse.
Police have launched an investigation after the vehicle was discovered on its roof on a causeway to St Mary’s Lighthouse in North Tyneside.
It is currently not clear how the car got on to the path nor how it overturned, with officers treating the man’s death as “unexplained”.
Shocking photos of the scene show the blue-coloured vehicle lying upside down on the causeway, surrounded by enormous rocks.
Police were called to the path out to the lighthouse on St Mary’s Island, just north of Whitley Bay, after a member of the public spotted the car.
Northumbria Police said officers were dispatched to the scene shortly after 7am today, where they discovered a vehicle lying on its roof.
A spokesman for the force said: “There was a man in the vehicle but he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.”
The driver’s next of kin have yet to be informed, and the body has not been formally identified.
Officers are now investigating how the car got on to the causeway.
Images of the tragedy show a police officer walking near the wrecked vehicle, as other emergency crew members stand nearby.
The coastguard was also called to the incident, according to the pictures.
Anyone who saw a vehicle being driven suspiciously earlier today should call 101, the police spokesman said.
The short causeway out to the rocky island and its lighthouse is a popular walk for locals and visitors to Whitley Bay.
It is submerged at high tide.
