POLICE have recovered the body of an 82-year-old man from a Clitheroe lodge.

Edmond Cambien had been missing from home for two days before the discovery of his body less than a mile from his home.

The pensioner was last seen on Monday by a neighbour as he walked in Hayhurst Street around 6pm.

Mr Cambien, who lived alone in Bolland Prospect, had been reported to police as a missing person and concerns for his safety and well being had grown as his disappearance was said to be totally out of character.

His body was found in Primrose Lodge, off Primrose Street, Clitheroe, around 2.30pm yesterday.

The lodge used to supply water to the former Primrose Mill but is now disused.

A police underwater search unit had been called in as part of a routine search to find Mr Cambien.

It is believed the pensioner regularly went for walks around that area.

Police said Mr Cambien had been well known in the Clitheroe area because he was a volunteer for Age Concern and Cancer Care in the town.

He had also been involved in amateur dramatics in the area in the past. The pensioner had no immediate family living in East Lancashire.

A police spokesman said: "The body of Edmond was recovered from a stretch of water known in Clitheroe as Primrose Lodge.

"He has now been positively identified by his next of kin."

He went on to say that Mr Cambien's death was not being treated as suspicious and that the coroner had been informed of his death.

An inquest into the circumstances and cause of his death will be held at a later date.