POLICE are investigating after the body of a young woman was discovered on the outskirts of Durham City.

A police investigation was launched after the woman's body was discovered on the edge of woods behind Meadowfield Sports Centre, near the village of Brandon on Wednesday morning.

The grim discovery was made at about 6.50am by a man out walking his dog.

At the time The Advertiser went to press, the dead woman had not been identified by police, but she was thought to be aged in her early twenties. Officers said they had been unable to establish how long she had been there.

The woman was fully clothed, but was not wearing a jacket or overcoat despite sub-zero temperatures in the area overnight.

Police cordoned off the area to allow scenes of crimes officers and detectives to carry out a thorough search of the area. A Home Office pathologist was called to examine the body at the scene ahead of a full post mortem examination to establish the cause of death.

Insp Dave Tweddle said: "At this stage we do not know how the woman died and therefore we have to keep an open mind. We are asking anyone who noticed any unusual activity in the area to ring Durham police on 0845 6060365.