THE body of a man was recovered from the banks of the Wye at Broadrock on Sunday morning, after being discovered during a routine training exercise by Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA).

Richard Newhouse, spokesperson for SARA, said: “We were out on a land search training exercise near Wintour’s Leap, when we found the body above the water in the mud. We called the police but, due to the location, which was inaccessible by road, we were asked to recover the body. We called two of our lifeboats round from Beachley for that purpose.

“We’re often asked to search for people reported missing, and we can be asked to recover bodies – that’s what we do. It’s extremely out of the ordinary for us to discover a body in this way on a weekly training exercise.”

The man has not yet been formally identified, but Gloucestershire Police say the coroner has been informed.