A sleepy village on the edge of St Albans has been left stunned by the sudden discovery of the dead bodies of a mother and her severely disabled daughter.

It is believed the bodies had been there some time before police made the gruesome discovery at the three-bedroom house in Marford Road, Wheathampstead,opposite the junction of Necton Road, on Saturday at around 2pm.

Neighbours have named the mother as Stephanie Wolf, believed to be in her mid fifties, and her paralysed daughter, who she cared for full-time, as Samantha.

Next door neighbour Barbara Duffield told the Review the pair were a quiet couple who kept themselves to themselves. But she said the daughter, thought to be in her mid thirties, was heavily dependant on her mother. "She was a in a wheelchair," Barbara said.

"She had to have a head brace and she couldn't speak - I only heard her mumble."

Barbara claimed she was the last person to see Stephanie when they chatted outside a chemist in Wheathampstead village at the beginning of July, saying she appeared distressed and agitated.

"I went up to her and said 'how are you?'. That's when I thought there was something more to it. She said 'I'm fine, I wish people would stop coming into my house uninvited'.

"She was very aggrieved about something but then she was like that.

"She looked fine though. She was a very fit lady, I'd be surprised if she had suffered a heart attack."

Barbara said Stephanie refused help from care workers, but a few years ago attached a sign with 'Help' written on it to the roof of her bungalow.

"I never saw any care workers at the house," Barbara said. "But then she wouldn't accept help. She always refused help - she was a very proud lady.

"I would have certainly gone to check on her but she was very unapproachable."

Barbara added: "It's terrible really because we're a close village and that shouldn't have happened.

"We're a close community and we look after each other."

Another neighbour Angela Goodwin said: “They have lived there for at least 15 years.

“They used to keep themselves to themselves and the mother used to say 'Hello' occasionally.

"I don’t know their names or anything much about them but the daughter was very severely disabled.

“There’s a father as well but he doesn’t live there.”

Stephen Marshall, of Station Road, added: “The daughter was disabled from birth. Her mother used to do the gardening and her daughter used to watch her.”

County council spokeswoman Lara Hejazi said the two women were known to the Adult Care Services department but confirmed they had declined help.

According to Hertfordshire Constabulary spokeswoman Laurel Smithson, the bodies were found after someone delivering leaflets noticed a build of neglected mail and contacted police.

One of the bodies was found in the lounge and one in a bedroom, but post mortems found no injuries or signs of violence.

Police say they are not treating the deaths as suspicious and hope to formally identify the bodies later today.