A man leaped 60ft to his death from a viaduct at a Cleckheaton beauty spot, minutes after a woman suffered serious injuries in an attack at the flat they shared in the town.

The 54-year-old man, who has not been named by police, was pronounced dead at the scene after he was discovered at the foot of the old viaduct at Mann Dam, close to the town centre.

The discovery was made shortly after a 40-year-old woman, understood to be his common-law partner, was found with serious injuries in the second-floor flat they shared half a mile away, in Carlton Way.

She had been hit with a hammer and stabbed. Detectives were last night waiting to speak to her at her hospital bedside in Huddersfield.

Neighbours called emergency services after hearing a disturbance in the maisonettes shortly after 6am on Monday.

Detective Inspector Jim Griffiths, of Dewsbury CID, said: “We found a female with serious head injuries and stab wounds. She had managed to walk to a neighbour’s flat. She is in a serious but stable condition.”

Less than 20 minutes later, police were called to the viaduct after reports that a man had fallen from the parapet.

Det Insp Griffiths said: “Police are treating the two incidents as linked. We are not looking for anybody else in connection with either the assault, or the fall from the bridge.”