Grieving relatives have paid tribute to a man who was found dumped on a street with “potentially hazardous” substances on his body.

Liam Smith’s body was discovered on a residential street at around 7pm on Thursday in Shevington, a suburb of Wigan, Greater Manchester.

In a brief statement released through Greater Manchester Police, his family said: “Liam was kind-hearted, funny, the life and soul of the party.

“He was the most devoted dad, much-loved son, brother, grandson and uncle. He will sorely be missed by all who knew and loved him.”

His family have asked for privacy while they grieve.

A Home Office post-mortem examination has been carried out.

No further information about the substances or the post-mortem has been released by police.

Detective Superintendent Alan Clitherow told reporters at press conference at the scene on Friday: “It is a challenging set of circumstances, we have got dedicated officers from the Major Incident Team, obviously less than 24 hours into the investigation, so we are now unpicking exactly what has gone on.

“We don’t know what the substance is. We have done some initial inquiries, we know it’s low risk, so as I mentioned before, anyone directly in contact with the body should seek medical advice if they feel unwell but there’s no wider risk to anyone else.”

The body was found in Kilburn Avenue, Shevington, on rough ground between neighbouring houses which leads to a dirt track and open fields.

Police urged anyone with information about the incident to contact the force. Members of the public can pass information to police through LiveChat or by calling 101 quoting incident number 000910 of 25/11/2022.