The body of a young woman has been discovered this morning on the outskirts of Durham City.

A police investigation was launched after the woman's body was discovered on the edge of woods behind Meadowfield Sports Centre, near the village of Brandon.

The grim discovery was made at about 6.50am by a local man out walking his dog.

The dead woman is thought by police to be aged in her early 20s, but no identification has yet been made and officers say they do not know how long she has been there.

She was fully clothed, but was not wearing a jacket or overcoat despite sub zero temperatures in the area overnight.

Police this morning cordoned off the area to allow scenes of crimes officers and detectives to carry out a thorough search of the area. A Home Office pathologist has been called to the scene to examine the body and a full post mortem examination will be carried out this afternoon.

Inspector Dave Tweddle said: "At this stage we do not know how the woman died and therefore we have to keep an open mind.

"We are asking anyone who noticed any unusual activity in the area last night or early this morning to ring Durham police on 0845 6060365."