POLICE have confirmed a body has been found in the search for a missing man in the Elstead area.

It comes after police closed a section of the B3001 Farnham Road near The Mill pub on Friday afternoon after a van was found abandoned nearby.

A spokesman for Surrey Police said: "Officers from Surrey Police, assisting Hampshire Constabulary with the search for a missing man in the Elstead area, have sadly discovered a body.

"The body is believed to be the missing man, however formal identification is yet to take place. The missing man’s next of kin have been informed."

Residents reported seeing up to 10 police cars and helicopters in the area from around 10am after a white van was found abandoned at the junction of Fulbrook Lane and the B3001.

Officers cordoned off an area opposite the Fulbrook Lane junction and a police diver could be seen searching the section of the river alongside the road.

At 4.45pm on Friday, police closed the B3001 and there remains a large police presence in the area, with several marked cars parked in The Mill at Elstead's car park and in Fulbrooke Lane.

Officers also reportedly searched The Woolpack pub, Thundry Meadows and the Hampton Estate earlier in the day.