A 78-year-old man was being questioned by police last night after the suspicious death of his elderly wife.

Police and medics were called to a maisonette in East Worthing after receiving a call at 12.47pm yesterday.

The entrance to the flat, above the Trident double-glazing shop, at the junction of Ham Road and Church Walk, was sealed off with tape while forensic experts searched the property.

A post mortem was last night being carried out on the woman, believed to be in her 70s, at Worthing Hospital by Home Office pathologist Dr Vesna Djurovic.

Police spokeswoman Jill Pederson said: "There has been a death and somebody is in custody. An elderly woman has died. We are treating it as suspicious. A 78-year-old is in custody."

She declined to say who telephoned the police but said it wasn't a 999 call that alerted them.

Andrew Stasi, owner of the Greek taverna-style Sunny Restaurant opposite the shop, said: "I know the people who are upstairs. They are an old couple. I have been here 21 years and they have been here longer than that. It must be 25 to 30 years."

A 77-year-old woman celebrating her birthday at the Sunny yesterday told how paramedics came "screeching down the road" and stopped outside the Trident shop.

She said: "We started our lunch and I could see several police cars. Then somebody said a hearse had drawn up outside."

Detective Inspector Russ Bagley is leading the investigation from an incident room based in Littlehampton.