Police divers searching for body near Kingston bridge (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Police divers searching for body near Kingston bridge

3:03pm Saturday 19th January 2013 in News By David Lindsell, Assistant Editor

Police divers are searching for a body in the icy cold water of the River Thames near Kingston bridge.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers were called at about 7.20am this morning to Barge Walk, Hampton Wick, after being told there was a person in the river.

Police divers from the marine policing unit and the RNLI are searching the stretch of Thames this afternoon.

The RNLI at Teddington tweeted this morning: “First shout of the year was sadly an unsuccessful search for a definite casualty, a man who drowned at Kingston.”

Houseboat owner Mary Graham tweeted: “Woken at 7.25am by local police needing our boat to look for man in river. Very sad did not find him.

“We were at the scene with the local bobbies onboard but could not find the man in water too cold to survive I fear.”