THE body of a man missing from home since last Tuesday has been recovered from a stream.

Police mounted a search for Edwin Cotton, 39, of Brancepeth, near Durham City, after he went out for a walk and failed to return to the home he shared with his parents.

Officers found the body on Saturday morning, in shallow water in Stockley Beck, near Brancepeth.

Last night, it was confirmed as Mr Cotton. A post-mortem examination was carried out yesterday and the north Durham coroner is expected to open an inquest into his death this week.

A police spokesman said detectives were not treating the death as suspicious.