Police find body in search for teenager who went missing in lake near Lakeside Shopping Centre

Police searching for a teenager who went missing in a lake near Lakeside Shopping Centre have found a body.

The missing teenager, 15, was last seen on Friday night in Alexandra Lake in Thurrock.

Superintendent Craig Saunders, of Essex Police, said: "I want to thank the local community for their patience, and all those involved who have helped with the investigation."

The missing boy's family have been told of the discovery and the search has been suspended.

Essex Police and firefighters were first called out on Friday night after reports that a teenager had gone missing.

Supt Saunders said: "Our investigation has identified that he was last seen at around 8.50pm on the lake."

Pictures from the area on Saturday morning show a white tent nearby and a large emergency presence.

A lifeboat was also photographed on the water and a police cordon was set up.

People were asked to stay away from the area.

A witness told EssexLive there was a "sombre" mood at the scene as the search took place on Friday evening.

"I drove down after my wife saw loads of emergency services down here," they said.

"There's a load of incident response teams here - loads of ambulances and fire trucks and specialist diving crews searching the river, which is just at the back of the Travelodge at Lakeside.

"There's a sombre mood here.

"Everyone's got a job to do and they're doing it well emergency services-wise. It's quite eerie watching the boats go over the river carefully as they search."

A new inflatable water park had opened on the lake a few weeks ago.

Anyone with dashcam, CCTV or mobile phone footage from the area on Friday night should call police on 101 quoting incident 1441 of 31 July