Police are appealing for witnesses following the discovery of a woman’s body in a car recovered from the Sixteen Foot Drain yesterday morning (Sunday).

A stretch of the B1098 was closed throughout Sunday while emergency services, including a search helicopter, scanned an area of the Sixteen Foot Drain in Christchurch.

Police are now looking for anyone who may have seen the vehicle, a black Honda Civic, in the area. It is thought it entered the water sometime between 11.45pm on Saturday (June 4) and 5am yesterday.

The body of a woman in her 40s was recovered from the vehicle close to the old Wheatsheaf pub. Police are not treating the incident as suspicious.

A police spokesman said: “I can confirm a car was recovered from the river containing the body of a woman. It is also confirmed the incident is non-suspicious.”

Road closures were introduced to the B1098 at around 5.30am between Padgetts Road and Manea Road. It reopened at 3.30pm.

Anyone who saw the vehicle in the area is asked to contact police on 101.