Police warning over generators after couple found dead on Boxing Day

Ken and Dorothy Swallow were found by family members at their Hurstpierpoint home and are believed to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

A police spokesman said: “The couple were found shortly after midday on Boxing Day. There were no suspicious circumstances.

“It is thought they succumbed to fumes from a generator left running overnight following a power cut.”

Mr Swallow, aged 70, was a former manager of Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath football clubs and was very well known across Mid Sussex.

His wife, Dorothy, was 71.

Sussex Police has since warned of the dangerous of using unventilated generators.

Inspector Andy Kundert, Sussex Police’s emergency planning officer, said: “We’re set for another very stormy period and in addition to the usual hazards out on the roads of Sussex, there’s potential for coastal and inland flooding around high tide times around lunchtime and midnight on Friday (January 3).