A County Armagh village is “deep shock” after a man in his 40s was murdered on Thursday, a local councillor has said.

Emergency services found the man dead at a property in Cusher Green, Mountnorris, shortly after 11:30 BST. He had serious head and facial injuries.

A 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has said.

TUV councillor Keith Ratcliffe said there had been a “sense of fear” in the area.

Ratcliffe told BBC News NI’s Good Morning Ulster that he had spoken to police on Thursday afternoon.

“It’s very sad news because unfortunately a man has lost his life there,” he said.

Ratcliffe said Mountnorris is a “quiet village” with “a few housing estates, a local school and a church”.

He said the murder happened at the quieter end of the Cusher Green estate “where a lot of pensioners live”.

“You never hear of anything like this going on or any trouble around [the village] to be totally honest,” he said.

“I was shocked when constituents contacted me yesterday.”

Ratcliffe said he expected there to be a police presence in the area over the weekend.

“There was an old building on the way into the estate and there was a full forensic team in round that building doing a lot of checks,” he added.

“The school I think was closed for a short time yesterday as well probably as a precaution, because obviously they didn’t know what was going on.”

At the scene, BBC News NI reporter Ita Dungan

I’m here at Cusher Green, one of the housing estates in the small village of Mountnorris. It’s set in the rolling hills of County Armagh, outside Markethill.

There’s a big green in the middle, there’s a picnic table, there are football nets and houses all around.

There are a few – maybe eight or nine – small bungalows and it’s here that the emergency services found the man’s body.

It’s been very quiet here this morning – not many up and about just yet – and a police cordon and vehicle remain outside the house.

The residents – many of whom are pensioners and young families – can’t quite believe what unfolded in their quiet area.