Man's body recovered from river

The body of a man has been recovered from a heavily swollen river.

RNLI crews were alerted after pedestrians reported seeing the body floating in the River Tyne close to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said the man's death was not related to the recent flooding and that it had been in the water for a while.

Coroner's representatives have now taken it to a mortuary where a post-mortem is due to be carried out.

The police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm a body was recovered from the river.

"We are still trying to identify it. It was not flood related.

"There is every indication it has been there for a while."