Published: May 25, 2009
Updated: Body of man found in river estuary at Burnham-On-Sea

This was the scene at Burnham-On-Sea Sailing Club on Monday evening (May 25th) after a dead body was found in the nearby river estuary.

Police, paramedics, Coastguards and two lifeboats were called to the scene shortly after 7pm after the body of a man had been spotted in the water near the mouth of the River Brue and Parrett.

Police sealed off an area around Burnham Sailing Club, including several footpaths, as pictured above.

Avon and Somerset Police's Deputy Inspector Marc Jobson told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "I can confirm that the body of a middle-aged adult male has been recovered from the river estuary."

He added: "The circumstances surrounding the death are unconfirmed and a post mortem will take place shortly. It appears that the body had been in the water some weeks."

He confirmed that the body had initially been found by a Burnham Sailing Club member at 7pm.

The RNLI lifeboats were used to bring the body back to the shore and, due to the stormy sea conditions, both boats were recovered by the launch tractors at Burnham Sailing Club insead of Burnham jetty.

Update: Police said on Tuesday that the discovery of the body was not being treated as suspicious. The post mortem has been delayed until Thursday.