DURHAM'S 16,000-strong student population ensures the city is usually a lively and fun place to be.

But not today. Today the city is in sombre mood after a member of the public spots a body in the water below Framwelgate Bridge.

The sighting is yards from where 19-year-old law student Euan Coulthard was last seen on CCTV making his way home from a night out.

The call alerting the emergency services comes at 9.15am. Shortly afterwards police arrive at the scene and cordon off a 200-yard stretch of the river bank, as well as the eastern side of the bridge above to prevent the public looking down on the horrid scene just below.

As well as numerous police officers and Durham Constabulary's marine unit, firefighters trained in river rescue and recovery can be seen working on both sides of the river bank. An ambulance is parked, partially hidden from public view, under the Gates shopping centre. Its back doors have been left open.

Back on the bridge, where Euan's face looks out from posters appealing for information on his whereabouts have been fastened to every available post, shoppers and students file past the police tape.

Some people ask officers what's happening - who politely say they are unable to comment - but most know and walk on in silence. The student's disappearance has been the biggest news in the region since he went missing the previous Wednesday after leaving the Loveshack nightclub.

Down below, a large sheet of police tarpaulin can be seen along the river bank. It is clear what the sheet hides from view.

This stretch of the River Wear is often photographed for its natural beauty, but nobody is taking pictures other than the police and the press.

Today, the river looks dirty and ugly. The banks are covered in litter and large branches and some small trees washed down from upstream poke out from the water. Just below the bridge, a wheelie bin still full of bin bags of rubbish has come to rest against the weir.

At around 1pm, the grim recovery operation is complete. Hidden from public view, a body is silently wheeled on a stretcher along the bank and into the ambulance with the doors left open. Shortly afterwards, the police cordon is removed and all that is left to signal that a terrible tragedy has occurred is the trampled grass on the riverbank.

Euan's friends and family never gave up hope that he would be found alive, but the deaths of two students whose bodies were found in the river nearby meant everyone feared the worst. Today, those fears were realised.