Train line body 'is missing girl'

The body was found in undergrowth a mile away from the station

A body found next to a railway line in Essex is believed to be Natasha Coombs, who went missing a fortnight ago, police have said.

The 17-year-old has not been seen since she boarded a train from Ipswich in Suffolk to her home in Dovercourt, Essex, on 27 July.

The body was found on Friday close to Manningtree railway station, where Natasha is thought to have got off.

Police said she was killed by being hit by a train.

An Essex Police spokeswoman said the discovery of a mobile phone, clothing and a handbag near the body "leads us to believe it is missing teenager Natasha Coombs".

Split from boyfriend

She said formal identification was likely to take place using dental records.

The body was found in undergrowth a mile down the line from the station on the London side after a report from a passing train driver.

Natasha had been out for a meal with friends in Ipswich on the night she went missing.

Police said her mobile phone went "off network" at 2319 BST in the Manningtree area of Essex.

She had separated from her boyfriend two weeks before, which police believe she might have been upset about on the night she disappeared.

Earlier on Friday her former boyfriend Joshua Brennan, 18, had made an appeal for help to find her.

And Natasha's grandparents, Peter and Wendy Clackett, had offered their life savings as a reward for information leading to her safe return.