UPDATE: Body of man believed to be from Littlehampton

Police believe the 42-year-old – who is yet to be formally identified – is from Littlehampton and may have died at some point on Monday evening (July 16).

He was discovered, shortly before 4pm, near the foreshore off Rope Walk.

Officers were called to the scene after a passer-by spotted the body, in a ditch next to the river wall about 200 yards from the West Beach Café.

This morning a spokesman from the police said the force is not treating the death as suspicious and that a formal identification would take place, at some point this week.

He added: “It is thought that the man had not been in the river itself, that he died where he was found, and may have been there since Monday night.”

The coroner’s office has been informed and will be continuing enquiries.