Published: June 30, 2009
Two bodies recovered from Bristol Channel by lifeboat crews

Two bodies were found by lifeboat crews in the Bristol Channel on Tuesday (June 30th), a week after two swimmers went missing at Weston.

Swansea Coastguards took a call reporting the sighting of a body off Clevedon at just after 1.30pm - and a body was later recovered by a Portishead lifeboat crew.

Later in the afternoon, a second body is understood to have been recovered from the Bristol Channel by Barry lifeboat.

It is not yet known whether the bodies are those of the two men who disappeared last week.

It comes after Burnham-On-Sea lifeboat, hovercraft and Coastguard crews were involved in a major search of Somerset's coastline last week.

Lee Tompkins, 33, and 35-year-old Dave Ellams had been enjoying a night out with their girlfriends when they took a swim next to Birnbeck Island and got swept away by the tide.