Rome, May 26 (IANS/AKI): Bailiffs on Tuesday discovered the mummified body of a pensioner -- who they believe died in 2008 -- when they entered his apartment in Italy's northwestern port city of Genoa.

The bailiffs went to the home of Flavio Vargiu after he stopped paying his bills and found his mummified body lying fully clothed on the kitchen floor.

A February 2008 calendar was lying on the floor beside him, leading investigators to believe the pensioner died around that time, when he was 76.

Police sealed off the apartment and said they had found jewellery and money inside it.

Vargiu's nieces said they had tried to contact him several times over the past seven years and one claimed she had even rung on the bell of his apartment but there was no reply.

Neighbours said Vargiu, a native of the Italian island of Sardinia, had told them he was planning to go and live in a nursing home.

"He was a very introverted, solitary and taciturn," they told the police.