Pensioner found dead in a ditch in Bognor

Police found 92-year-old Charles Smith lying in a water-filled ditch near Barton Road at 12.45pm after he had been reported missing from his home in Markfield, Bersted, just before 9am.

Enquiries established that he had last been seen on Sunday evening (December 6).

Hotel 900, the Sussex Police helicopter, which had been assisting with the search, landed at Bartons Infant School.

Mr Smith was declared dead at the scene by the helicopter's paramedic and his body was recovered from the water by the Force's Specialist Search Unit, based at Shoreham.