Unable to start due to locked files

I am using neo4j community version 5.18.1 in the linux terminal. When I start a session using the "neo4j start" command, it takes ~5-10 seconds to return an error
"Neo4j web server failed to start. See log for more info.
Unable to start. See user log for details."
When I check the neo4j/log file, it suggests that a lock file has been locked by another process, even though no other sessions are running.
Any help would be appreciated.

@S-K-23

linux command

lsof | grep < filename>

will give you the processID holding the lock ( providing you replace with the actual file name.

and then

ps -eaf | grep <pid>

can give you more details of the process