COASTGUARD teams helped retrieve the body of a man found on a North-East beach on Thursday.
Stephen Scott McEwan, 35, had been seen at the top of cliffs close to the picnic site at Blackhall Rocks, in east Durham, by a man walking his dog at about 10.30am.
Minutes later, the walker came across the body of Mr McEwan, who is from Grindon Park, on the outskirts of Sunderland.
Mr McEwan was confirmed dead at the scene and his green Renault Laguna car was later found at the picnic site and was taken away by police for examination.
A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastal Agency said two teams of coastguards, from Hartlepool and Seaham, had helped bring the body from below the cliffs.
The operation to retrieve his body, using ropes, took three hours.
A spokesman at Durham Police's headquarters in Aykley Heads, Durham City, said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
An inquest is to be opened on Monday at the Coroner's Office, in Elliott Street, Crook, County Durham
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