POLICE searching for a missing North-East woman have found her body in a garden.

The body of Patricia Clarkson, 29, was discovered on Tyneside on Thursday night as police stepped up their hunt for the mother, who disappeared from her home on Tuesday.

Police said the corpse was found in the back garden of a house in the Horsley Hill area of South Shields, a short distance from Mrs Clarkson's home, in Osborne Avenue, Westoe.

Her death is not being treated as suspicious, but police did not reveal the cause of death last night.

Anyone with information is asked to contact 0191-454 7555