Body found near lake

The body was wearing a blue top when it was found

The heavily decomposed body of a man with a cord wrapped round his neck has been discovered close to a fishing lake in Essex.

The body of the man, in his late 20s or early 30s, was found by a fisherman on Thursday last week off Benskins Lane at Noak Hill in Harold Hill.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as strangulation.

Detectives from Scotland Yard said they had not yet been able to identify the man, who was of slim to medium build with short dark hair and probably between 5 ft 7 in and 5 ft 9 in tall.

He was wearing a blue Kappa short-sleaved top with the middle "p" of Kappa missing, blue DenimCo jeans and black Ador trainers.

Police are treating his death as suspicious and believe the body may have been at the scene since 1 September.

Detective Chief Inspector Keith Garnish said: "We urgently need to identify this man so we can begin to move forward with our enquiries.

"We would ask anyone who recognises the description to contact police as soon as possible."