MYSTERY last night surrounded the death of a former teacher whose body was found on a North-East beach.

The body of Debra McNicholas, 44, was discovered by a member of the public on Redcar beach, near the children's paddling pool, at 7am on Sunday.

A post mortem examination was carried out on the mother-of-four, from Redcar, which revealed that she had drowned.

But police revealed yesterday that she also had injuries consistent with a fall or assault.

Detective Superintendent Mark Braithwaite, who is leading the investigation, said: "At this stage, I am treating Debra's death as suspicious. I'm currently trying to build up a picture of how she came to be on the promenade.

"My appeal is for information from anyone who knew Debra or who may have seen her or been in her company on Saturday night or Sunday morning."

Mrs McNicholas, who gave up teaching to look after her children, is understood to have left the house at 11pm on Saturday.

Police are unsure of her movements afterwards, and are questioning her family and friends for clues.

Throughout Sunday night, a team of officers kept a vigil on the promenade in the hope of finding witnesses, and yesterday they continued to search the beach for evidence.

Det Supt Braithwaite admitted he did not know how long Mrs McNicholas' body had lain on the beach, or whether she was attacked before reaching it.

"I haven't ruled anything out," he said. "I'm keeping a completely open mind."

He described Mrs McNicholas as "independent with a wide circle of friends", and said she was well-known in Redcar.

He added: "It was quite a pleasant day on Saturday but in the evening it would have been cold and dark and the only people using the area would have been dog walkers, joggers and fishermen."

Anyone with information is asked to ring (01642) 302626 or 326326.