THE body of a man in his 80s was pulled from the waters of Wareham Channel on Thursday.

Members of the public spotted the body and raised the alarm shortly before 8pm.

Poole’s all-weather and inshore RNLI lifeboats were launched at 8.15pm.

Station press officer Anne-Marie Clark said: “The call we got was of a person in the water and we have to treat it like a man overboard.”

Crew members recovered the man’s body near Redcliffe at 8.45pm and brought it ashore, she said.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: “There are no suspicious circumstances and the coroner and the next of kin have been informed.”

Portland Coastguard was also involved.

An officer for the Bournemouth, Poole and East Dorset Coroner said that the man was from the Wareham area.

A post-mortem will be carried out today.