A laundrette owner who was found dead yesterday morning has been named locally as Bhasker Amin.

Mr Amin, who was in his mid-60s, was discovered in the back room of The Laundrette in Ballards Lane, Finchley.

It is believed that the family man, who had a wife and three adult children, died in his sleep after deciding to spend the night in the office behind his business.

Mr Amin lived in Dartford, Kent, and commuted to Finchley every day to run the business he had owned for about eight years.

It is thought that he started to head home on Saturday evening but found the trains delayed so decided to spend the night in his laundrette instead.

He was discovered at 10.15am yesterday by a member of staff who went to open the shop.

The employee initially thought his boss was asleep but could not wake him so ran over the road to Dave’s Trade Centre looking for help.

Pradip Dave, owner of the trade centre, and a friend of Mr Amin, rushed over to help.

He found Mr Amin on the floor of his office and was also unable to rouse him so he called an ambulance and the police.

Mr Dave said: “We were absolutely shocked. He was a good friend.

“He was a very jolly person and we will miss him. He was a proper character.

“When I saw him I just knew he was dead from the look of his face.”

Mr Amin was pronounced dead at the scene but the cause of death is not yet known.

The Laundrette has reopened today and is being run by Mr Amin’s employee and a friend, Ashish Kakade.

Mr Kakade said: “I was shocked when I heard what had happened.

“I saw him on Friday. He waved and we had a little chat.

“It was a real shock. You just don’t expect it, especially when you have just seen someone.”

Police are not treating Mr Amin’s death as suspicious.