Police have identified a woman whose body was found on the beach at Hunstanton as investigations into her death continue.

She was discovered by a passer-by close to Sea Life Hunstanton, off the resort's Southern Prom, on Friday night.

Officers were called to the Seagate Road area at around 11.45pm and a body was later recovered. 

The beach was cordoned off in front of the seafront attraction on Saturday morning and a number of officers were seen combing the shoreline above the high tide mark close to the Prom.

While crowds flocked to the prom to enjoy the late autumn sunshine on Sunday, the beach was almost empty on Monday morning as the tide went out leaving wide open sands but no clues as to what may have happened.

A police spokesman said: "Enquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances of the woman’s death, which is being treated as unexplained.

"The body has yet to be formally identified. A post-mortem examination is due to take place in the next few days."

Police said the woman's death was not being linked to Storm Babet, which caused widespread flooding and disruption elsewhere across the region at the end of last week. 

If the post mortem confirms that the woman's death was not suspicious, a file will be passed to the coroner and a formal inquest will be opened into the circumstances surrounding it, pending full proceedings at a later date.

Seafront traders said the first they heard of the incident was when the beach was cordoned off on Saturday morning.

The cordon was lifted and police re-opened the beach around 10am, without providing them with further information.

Hunstanton Mayor Mike Ruston said: "It's very sad but none of us know of any detail as to how she came to be there.

"I don't know if she was a local person or from away."