POLICE believe it could take days before they know the identity of a body dragged from the swollen River Severn.

The badly decomposed body of a man was found wedged against a pontoon at the Ketch Caravan Park & Moorings on Thursday.

Insp Phil Worthington, of Worcester police, said pathologists would be using various methods to work out the identity of the man, who is believed to have been in the water for some time.

"We'll be using other methods rather than visual means, which means it will take longer than usual to find out who it is," said Insp Worthington. "It will be days instead of hours before we know."

The body was discovered at Thursday lunchtime by Stewart Spencer, who helps maintain the Ketch Caravan Park & Moorings.

He was about to row out to remove rubbish from the flooded riverbank when he saw the corpse face down in the water.

"I noticed something around the iron stanchions," Mr Spencer said. "It didn't quite look like a log, so I got out of the boat. I was 12ft away when I saw it was a head. He was face down and fully-clothed."

He handed a hook used for clearing rubbish to park owner Mike Gourlay, who hooked it through the dead man's belt.

Police confirmed yesterday that Mary Read, the mother of missing 17-year-old Andrew Read, had been informed of the find.

They have not yet ruled out that the body could be his.

Andrew, of Drakes Broughton, went missing on Monday, November 13, after being dropped off at The Old Rectifying House pub, in Worcester.

Despite a wide hunt, no trace of the youngster has been found.