POLICE last night charged a man with murder after the body of a father-of-two was discovered in the grounds of a North-East hotel.

The body of Lyndsay Kennedy, 40, of Penshaw Gardens, East Stanley, County Durham, was found behind the Harperley Hotel, near Tanfield Lea, on Tuesday morning.

Last night, police said that Donald Scott Storm, of York Street, East Stanley, is due to appear before magistrates in Consett this morning, charged with murder.

Detectives are appealing to anyone who was near, or passing, the crime scene.

They also want to hear from anyone who may have seen Mr Kennedy before his death.

Police revealed that his body was found under a bush with a coat laid over him at 7am on Tuesday - hours after he had been involved in a road accident.

Mr Kennedy had been a passenger in a Vauxhall Corsa on the road between Tanfield Lea and Annfield Plain, near Stanley, at about 10.30pm on Monday.

Although temperatures fell as low as -7C during the night, pathologist Dr James Sunter said Mr Kennedy died of head wounds and not hypothermia.

Detective Superintendent Neil Malkin, who is leading the 30-strong investigation, said: "He died as a result of severe head injuries and we do not think he sustained these in the car crash. We believe Mr Kennedy was a passenger and was uninjured when he got out of the car."

No weapon has been found and detectives are keeping an open mind about how he sustained the fatal injuries.

Det Supt Malkin said two men left the scene of the car crash but were separated at some point. The alarm was raised by a taxi driver who had been asked to visit the area.

Mr Kennedy lived with his mother but his young children, a son and daughter, live with their mother outside the North-East.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police on 0845 60 60 365 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.