An angler spotted the body of a dead man in a river and helped police to retrieve it.

Andrew Edwards, of Tasmania Way, Eastbourne, was in a boat on the River Waveney in the Norfolk Broads when he saw the body a few feet away.

The top of the man's head and spiky hair were all that were showing but Mr Edwards said he knew straight away what he had found.

He said: "I had to lean over the edge of the boat and then I caught a glimpse of two earrings just under the water.

"My first reaction was horror. There were two of us on board and we called the police and the rivers authority."

Mr Edwards, 38, stayed with the body for half an hour as it drifted along.

He said: "We were met by a boat from the Broads authority. They tried to lift him out of the water by themselves but he was too heavy.

"I was told to grab the feet but warned with bodies bits tend to drop off. I got the first look at his eyes, just staring at me."

Police said the drowned man, aged 39, had probably tripped over his rucksack and fallen into the river 24 hours earlier.