The body is taken away. Pictures: Peter Flemmich

A badly-decomposed human body has been recovered from the River Severn in Shrewsbury after it was discovered by a group of canoeists.

The grim find was made along a stretch of the river in the Monkmoor area of Shrewsbury yesterday afternoon.

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A group of about eight canoeists out on the river discovered the body of a man stuck against a willow tree along the bank of the waterway at about 1.15pm.

It was recovered from a section of the water between two bridges carrying the A49 and the railway line over the River Severn but was moved about 100 yards away to a path from St James Road to allow it to be taken away.

Tests will need to be carried out to determine who the man is and how he died as the body has decomposed.

Today Richard Ewels, spokesman for West Mercia Police, said the man had yet to be identified but a report was being prepared for the coroner.

Detective Sergeant Niall Parker, from West Mercia Police, said: “Some canoeists were out and found a body in the river.

“The body has been there for some time. It’s decomposed and was stuck against a willow tree.

“The body has been recovered and there will be a Home Office post mortem today to discover who that person is.

“We will search all missing databases for males and females but it will come down to possibly dental records or DNA at this time.”

Police officers, firefighters and members of the Severn Area Rescue Association were all called out and the river rescue team used a boat to recover the body from the Severn.

Residents in the area today spoke of their shock at the discovery.

Andrew Meredith, of Hillside Drive, said: “It’s always quiet around here. There’s always the possibility that bodies float down the river from other areas but nothing really like this happens.”

Margaret Carter, from St James Road, was walking her dog in a field near to the river when firefighters and police told her a body had been discovered in the water.

She said: “It’s a bit frightening when they tell you they are going to get a body. It’s a very quiet area. We don’t see a lot of this happening.”