Italian police believe river body is British tourist

Mrs Turner was reported missing after going out for a walk by herself

Italian police say they are "fairly confident" a woman's body found in a river is that of a British holidaymaker who went missing seven months ago.

Glenys Turner, 46, from Derbyshire, disappeared after she was seen going for a walk near Lake Como last October.

Police are now checking DNA records to identify the body, which was found by a fisherman in a nearby river.

A bracelet from the hotel where Mrs Turner had been staying was found on the body, police said.

Mrs Turner, a church warden from Mackworth, had been travelling alone when she went missing from the Grand Hotel Britannia last October.

Despite an extensive search by mountain rescue teams with dogs and a helicopter, no sign of her was found.

'Slipped and fell'

Carabinieri police official Gaspare Pupella said the force was confident it had now discovered Mrs Turner.

He said: "The body was spotted by a fisherman who called us but we had to get the mountain rescue teams involved because the location was in a very difficult terrain.

"The body was in a very advanced state of decomposition and even though a bag was also recovered there were no documents inside.

"She was wearing a bracelet from the Grand Hotel Britannia, which is where Glenys Turner was staying at the time she went missing, and there are no other people missing from the hotel so we are fairly confident it is her.

"However, until we have a positive match through DNA records then we cannot officially confirm that it is her.

"If it is her then it looks like she slipped and fell into the river and her body became wedged somewhere."

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The Italian police are continuing to investigate the disappearance of a British national in the area of Lake Como in Italy.

"We are providing consular assistance to the family and are liaising closely with the Italian authorities."