POLICE hunting for missing architect Joanna Yeates have found a body.

The discovery was made today by a couple walking their dogs in the Failand area of North Somerset, an Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said.

A force spokesman said: "At 9am this morning a couple walking their dogs found the body of a young woman in a roadside verge in Longwood Lane in the Failand area of North Somerset.

"The area has been cordoned off and Longwood Lane has been closed at both ends by police, pending an examination of the scene by crime scene investigators.

"A pathologist will be attending the scene to examine the body.

"At this moment in time it is far too early to confirm the cause of death or any circumstances."

Police investigating the disappearance of Ms Yeates had been in contact with detectives from North Yorkshire Police looking for missing York woman Claudia Lawrence.

They are not specifically linking the cases at this stage.

Ms Lawrence, who was 35 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen walking near her home, in York, on March 18 last year.

Police are treating her disappearance as one of suspected murder.