Man's body pulled from River Wear: police investigate 'unexplained' death

The body of a man has been recovered from the River Wear near a County Durham village.

By Poppy Kennedy

Published 25th Mar 2019, 06:09 BST

Updated 25th Mar 2019, 06:33 BST

The body was pulled from the River Wear near Witton-le-Wear. Picture by Google

Police were alerted after the body was spotted by a member of the public near Witton-le-Wear at 12.40pm yesterday.

Emergency services attended but despite their efforts, the man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

An investigation is now underway to establish the circumstances surrounding the man’s death and how he ended up in the river.

Formal identification has yet to take place. Although unexplained, police are not at this time treating his death as suspicious.

Durham Constabulary has now launched an appeal for information.

A spokesman for the force said: "Officers would like to hear from anyone who may have seen a man walking along the riverbank in the Witton-le-Wear area from around 12pm this afternoon.

"Please call Durham Constabulary on 101 with any information, quoting incident number 210 of March 24."