An inquest is due to take place into the death of a woman whose fully-clothed body was found four miles off the Suffolk coast.

IPSWICH: An inquest is due to take place into the death of a woman whose fully-clothed body was found four miles off the Suffolk coast.

The woman, believed to be Linda Laframboise, of Eagle Street, Ipswich, was found in the sea on Tuesday after being spotted from a ship.

A post mortem is due to be carried out, however police are not treating her death as suspicious.

Her case has been passed to the coroner's office in Essex and an inquest is set to be held in due course. Enquiries are still ongoing to formally identify her.

The drama began at around 8.15am on Tuesday when men onboard an anchored pilot ship reported a sighting of her body to Thames Coastguard at Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex.

As people watched from Felixstowe seafront, a lifeboat crew carried out the macabre task of pulling her body from the sea.

She was found just south of the separation zones close to the main deep channel used by ferries going in and out of Harwich and Felixstowe.

Today it emerged a handbag, thought to belong to the victim, was recovered from Felixstowe beach.

Police believe the body had only been in the water a few hours before it was recovered.

One man working on the seafront said: “I saw the lifeboat go out and then stop. There didn't appear to be anything happening and even with binoculars it was hard to see what they were doing out there. It must be an awful thing to have to deal with.”