Firefighters have confirmed that the body pulled from the river in Leatherhead this afternoon was that of an elderly man.

A Leatherhead fire station spokesman said they were called to Thorncroft Manor bridge at noon and got back to the station at 1.45pm.

He said the body was spotted in the River Mole by passersby thought to have been walking a dog on the bank.

He said: “It was an elderly gentleman. It was retrieved by the fire service. We have left it in the hands of the police.”

He said that a boat from Walton fire station was used to get the body out of the river.

Mole Valley Neighbourhood Inspector Andy Rundle, from the scene, said: "Police are in attendance at Gimcrack Hill with other emergency services."

A police spokeswoman said: "Officers are currently in attendance near Leatherhead town centre after a member of the public discovered a body in the river at the location.

"A number of enquiries are now being carried out to establish the identity of the body and to determine the circumstances surrounding the death."

In April a dying canoeist was pulled from the fast flowing river in Leatherhead very near Gimcrack Hill.

And in 2010 the body of a middle aged man was pulled from the river a kilometre away near Randalls Park.

Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting reference P13324833.

 

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