THE body of a woman found in bushes at the back of a beach has been confirmed as being that of 83-year-old Joyce Parker.

The body was found next to the cliffs near Arbor Lane at Pakefield, near Lowestoft, last night.

Mrs Parker, from Kettering, went to the beach with her husband, also in his 80s, on Tuesday, but he became tired and returned to where they were staying, leaving her to continue on her walk.

Following searches all week and appeals for information, police received a call yesterday lunchtime reporting a possible sighting of Mrs Parker on the cliff top at Pakefield shortly after the last confirmed sighting of her on the beach.

This enabled police to narrow the search area and, with assistance from the coastguard, officers began a more detailed search. This resulted in the body of a woman being found in the bushes around 7pm last night.

Formal identification has now been carried out confirming this is Mrs Parker and a post-mortem examination is due to be held early next week to determine cause of death.

At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained however there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances.