The body of an elderly woman lay undiscovered in her flat for up to five years, it was revealed today.

The badly decomposed body of Isabella Purves, who would have been 90 this year, was found by police earlier this week.

Officers forced their way into her flat in the Canonmills area of Edinburgh after a neighbour reported water dripping through the ceiling.

They had to fight their way through piles of unopened mail behind her front door.

It is thought her pension was paid directly into a bank account and utility bills were paid by direct debit.

Police are trying to trace her relatives.

Neighbours in Rodney Street spoke today of their horror at the discovery.

Giovanni Cilia, who owns the Fioritalia florist below Ms Purves's traditional tenement flat, said he was shocked at how long it took to find her.

He said: "How did no one notice the smell, or wonder where she was?

"I heard there was a big pile of letters and bills behind the door.

"I used to see her walk past the shop maybe four times a week. She would often go across the street and pick up litter to clean the place up."

Mr Cilia, who has run the shop for 20 years, added: "It's shocked everyone here. When I saw her she looked quite fit and healthy for her age.

"She used to wear boots and would often carry a rucksack like she enjoyed going for walks."

Michael Singh Kille, who works in a newsagent's three doors along, said he saw a stretcher taken from the building.

He said: "The police came and knocked down the door, then a private ambulance came after that.

"They took a stretcher up and when it came down it didn't look as though it had anything on it, just a very slight shape."

David Crystal, an optometrist who has run his business near the flat for 22 years, said Ms Purves had been a client.

He said: "I haven't seen her for 12 years. I last saw her in 1997 and we've sent her five reminders.

"For someone who doesn't have any family in this automated society, you can understand how it can happen.

"Before, they would go to the post office to collect a pension. I just assumed she'd been moved into a care home.

"We wouldn't normally follow up a non-attending person to see why they hadn't come back."

The last reminder was sent out in 2004.

His wife, Dorothy, who co-owns the business, said the discovery was "an indictment" of society.

She said: "Nobody cares any more, that's pretty sad.

"It's down to basic neighbourly behaviour. I would hope people would be looking out for others."

The windows of the top-floor flat were left open today in the tenement building, which occupies a block on the busy junction with Broughton Road, above a pub and row of shops.

Douglas McLellan, of Age Concern and Help the Aged in Scotland, said it was a "tragic case".

He said: "If she was not receiving care treatment from anyone and not receiving social care, then the likelihood of being found quickly is minimal.

"The question is not just about public services finding people and neighbours checking up, it's about how elderly people themselves are living their lives.

"If they're leading private lives, then how are people going to find them?"

Mr McLellan urged people to take more notice of their neighbours and "knock on doors" if there is any concern.

"Society has fractured. We're not in the same units as we used to be.

"People might not phone their own gran more than once a month," he added.

Edinburgh City Council confirmed it was contacted about a leak from the tenement but said Ms Purves was not a council tenant.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "Police were called to an address in Rodney Street in Edinburgh on June 30, after concerns were raised over an elderly resident.

"On entering the premises, officers discovered the body of a 90-year-old woman.

"There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, and a report has been sent to the procurator fiscal."