THE body of an Ipswich woman was discovered by staff at a guesthouse after she was reported missing earlier this week.

The family of a 26-year-old woman, who is believed to be a mother, contacted Suffolk Police at 4.30pm on Tuesday with concerns for her welfare.

After trawling through CCTV from the town centre, searching parks and contacting hospitals in the area, officers called on Thames Coastguard for assistance.

The coastguard carried out a search of waterways along the south east coast of Suffolk with the help of crews from Felixstowe and Holbrook, after receiving reports of a “suicidal woman”.

However crews were stood down after Essex Police contacted officers in Ipswich to inform them that a body had been found at the Railway Sleepers bed and breakfast in Bergholt Road, Colchester.

It is believed that the body was found shortly before 11am yesterday by the owner of the guesthouse, after the woman failed to turn up for breakfast.

A spokesman for Suffolk Police said: “A woman has been found dead at a property in Essex after being reported missing by family in Suffolk.

“A search of local parks was conducted while other inquiries were undertaken.”

Reports then led police to believe that the woman was in the Colchester area and officers contacted hospitals in Suffolk and Essex to ascertain whether she had been admitted.

Essex Police searched parkland in Colchester, while CCTV was trawled from Ipswich and Colchester town centres as well as the routes between the two towns.

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said that they had been called to a woman who was believed to have suffered a cardiac or respiratory arrest. She was declared dead at the scene.

A resident of Bergholt Road, Colchester, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “I came out and saw two small ambulances, one large ambulance and two police cars.

“I was frightened that someone had been stabbed.”

A mother and daughter from Ireland said that they initially believed they were due to stay in the room where the tragedy had taken place, but were later assure that it wasn’t. Patricia, 53, and daughter Tara, 18, were visiting Colchester Institute.

Pauline said: “I e-mailed the guesthouse at around 11am this morning to see if I could arrive at 1.30pm.

“They told me no problem. But when we arrived they took our bags and asked if we could come back later on – there were two police men talking to the manager.

“They said our room wouldn’t be ready until after 4pm.”

The death is not being treated as suspicious.

The police spokesman added: “Formal identification and post mortem will now be carried out prior to an inquest.”