Police searching for David Kelly, the alleged mole at the centre of the Iraq dossier row, have found the body of a man.
The team of police looking for Dr Kelly throughout the night found a body at 9.20am, nearly 10 hours after Dr Kelly's wife raised the alarm that he was missing.
The body was found on Harrowdown Hill, near Dr Kelly's home at Southmoor in Oxfordshire.
Police said inquiries were continuing at the scene, and could not give any further details about the body.
"The identification of the person has not been established," a police spokesman said.
"The body is a male. We have not ruled anything out. Inquiries are ongoing, people are at the scene now.
"This is a very early stage in the inquiry and we are waiting for further information to be made available."
The spokesman said Dr Kelly's family had been kept abreast of what the police had been doing in relation to the civil servant's disappearance yesterday.
He called for news reporters not to contact the Kelly family and to treat them with respect during what is a "sensitive inquiry".
Dr Kelly went out for a walk yesterday afternoon and has not been seen since.
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