THE body of a man was pulled out of the River Stour.

Police were called at 12.45pm on Wednesday afternoon to reports of a body in the river, and officers and the NPAS police helicopter attended the scene in Christchurch to carry out a search.

At around 1pm the body was recovered onto a private pontoon in the Homelands retirement estate in King's Avenue, and officers put up a sheet to screen off the area while an investigation was carried out.

Jeff Fallon, 79, who owns the pontoon, said: "I was down there this morning cleaning the pontoon and my boat and I didn't see anything then, but the tide was in.

"When I got back from table tennis at about 1.30pm I saw the police helicopter stopped right above and officers down on my pontoon.

"I saw the body briefly, it was low tide by then and they must have dragged it out of the mud."

Mr Fallon, who has lived in the property for eight years, said he knew nothing about the man.

"It is very sad news," he said.

"I am glad the police found the body before anyone else did. We usually have parties on that pontoon but it wouldn't be the same now."

Joe Hailes, 67, another Homelands resident whose property overlooks the small inlet of the River Stour where the body was found, echoed Mr Fallon's words.

"This is very sad, and there was a body found at Mudeford a few days ago, and that death in Boscombe yesterday," he said.

"It is very quiet around here, it is a lovely little place. We don't normally get much happening, although we have seen the helicopter searching the river before."

The man has not yet been formally identified. The coroner has been notified and the death is not being treated as suspicious.