Police are staying tight lipped on how a Paeroa man ended up dead in the town this morning.

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At a police press conference this afternoon they said it was too soon to speculate on how the man died.

While they would not name the victim until a formal identification process had taken place neighbouring business owners said he was Mykonos Pizza takeaway owner Jordan Voudouris.

District rural field crime supervisor Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead said a post mortem would be carried out on the man, believed to be 57, tomorrow.

He confirmed the dead man worked at a business near to where his body was found.

Detectives today cordoned off Willoughby St at the intersection with Hall St. The town's police station is nearby on Willoughby St.

The ambulance service said it was called to a report of a person found lying on the ground in Hall St, Paeroa shortly after 6am.

Whitehead said an ESR examination of the scene and the post mortem would give police a clearer picture of what had happened.

At this point they were treating the man's death as suspicious.

Messages were being left for Voudouris on the restaurant's Facebook page, praising him as "great guy and an icon".

Flowers and notes of support had also been left outside the restaurant.

Meanwhile Leonie Mason, of Granville's Antiques, had a sign outside her store reading "we all knew him much loved rip".

She said he would be a loss to the community.

"He made a really good name for himself and he looked after the kids in town. He'll be greatly missed here."

Another resident said "he was a lovely man who had a smile for everyone and will be sorely missed".

- © Fairfax NZ News