POLICE are working with the Polish embassy in London to try to track down the relatives of a homeless man who died shortly after being found collapsed in an Ilford alleyway.

The man, believed to be aged in his 50s, was spotted by a woman in the alleyway off Ley Street, Ilford, at about 9.45am on Friday last week.

Paramedics went to the scene and tried to resuscitate the man, who was in cardiac arrest, before taking him to King George Hospital, Barley Lane, Goodmayes, where he was pronounced dead.

Neighbours said officers remained at the scene off Ley Street until lunchtime searching for clues.

Investigators are waiting for tests from a post-mortem carried out on Monday to come back to them.

The death is being treated as unexplained until those results come through.

Police are not releasing the name of the man until his next of kin are informed of his death.

A resident, who did not want to be named, said: “I saw the police near there that morning.

“We have seen them called to that alleyway before because of problems but they were there for much longer this time.”