Woman found dead in canal

TAPED off at the scene... Rochdale Canal in Failsworth where a woman’s body was found yesterday

Grim discovery at beauty spot
MYSTERY surrounds the death of an elderly woman whose body was found in the Rochdale Canal just yards from a busy supermarket.

Shoppers were shocked to see police activity as an underwater search team recovered the body near to Morrisons in Marlborough Mill, Failsworth, at 10.40am yesterday.

The scene was quickly cordoned off with police tape spread around a bridge spanning over the canal in Poplar Street.

Police chiefs say the death is under investigation but there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances. While it may have been an accident, one line of inquiry is that the woman took her own life.

The Chronicle understands a concerned relative of the woman contacted the police to raise the alarm to say she was missing.

The body of the woman, believed to be in her 80s, was then spotted floating in the canal next to Failsworth Home Guard Club by club secretary Thomas Jeffery and his wife Christine, who alerted officers.

The couple regularly feed the geese and ducks on the canal and as Mr Jeffery activated the electric shutter to open up, his wife made her way to the bank side.

Mr Jeffery said: “All of a sudden she screamed and said ‘there’s a body’. I ran over and saw the old lady face-down in the canal. I phoned the police straight away. You can’t put into words what you feel. You are numb. I don’t think it hits you.”

“I feel sorry for her family. To end your life like that is not a good thing.”

Police have not yet formally identified the body but the case is expected to be passed to the coroner to determine what happened.