TWO police officers and a member of the public had to be rescued by Dover lifeboat crew on Saturday after they became cut off by the tide while trying to recover a woman’s body.

The alarm had first been raised on Friday by someone walking along the clifftop at St Margaret’s who found a holdall. Inside was a note and other items.

On Saturday, another person, walking along the foreshore between St Margaret’s and Dover, found a body on the beach and called the police. Two officers attended, but while they were dealing with the incident the tide came up and cut them off.

Dover lifeboat was launched just after 4pm and picked up the police officers and the member of the public, and recovered the body.

Police said they had not yet been able to formally identify the body although she was believed to be a 29-yearold woman who had been reported missing from the Wandsworth area of London on May 4. An inquest is due to be opened on Wednesday (May 14).