DETECTIVES think they may have identified the body of a man found in a Suffolk river, it emerged today.

Craig Robinson

DETECTIVES think they may have identified the body of a man found in a Suffolk river, it emerged today.

Police now believe the man is in his early sixties and have added that he has distinctive old-style green tattoos on both hands.

Officers are appealing for anyone who may know the man, who was found in the River Gipping near West End Road in Ipswich just before 4pm on Thursday, to come forward and contact Suffolk police.

Police sealed off West End Road from the Zest nightclub car park to the end of Ipswich Borough Council's premises while they recovered the body from the water.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said: “Through internal enquiries, Ipswich Police have established a potential identity of the male.

“However, they are seeking to corroborate the identity and contact next of kin. Many possible enquiries are unable to be conducted until normal office hours on Monday so the police are appealing for the help of the public.”

A post-mortem into the unexplained death has now also been postponed until Monday, the force said.

The body was discovered by Carl Greenwood, a builder working on a development of flats next to the river, and one of his colleagues.

“But we both went over and saw it was a body with jeans on face down in the water,” Mr Greenwood said. “It did shake me up as you do not expect to see things like that. I called my site manager who verified it was a body and he rang the police.”

Anyone with information should call DI Kevin Hayward at Ipswich CID on 01473 613500.