HUMAN remains have been discovered at the bottom of cliffs on Portland.

The body was discovered yesterday afternoon by a member of the public and, while its identity remains unknown, police are not treating the death as suspicious.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “At 1pm yesterday Dorset Police were called by members of the public to Blacknor Fort, Portland, having found what they believed to be human remains.
“Officers attending and the body of a deceased person, believed to be a male, was located in a remote and fairly inaccessible location.“

The body was recovered with the assistance of HM Coastguard.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious although the identity of the deceased is not known at this time.

“The investigation is now in the hands of the coroner.”

A spokesman for Portland Coastguard said they had been made aware of the discovery but the incident was being dealt with by the police.

A nearby resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “There was a lot of police and coastguards who were here yesterday after they found the body.

“There has been a couple of incidents in the past of people committing suicides or the coastguards have had to rescue people from the sea but it’s not a frequent occurrence."

Mayor of Portland Les Ames said he was ‘extremely sorry’ to hear about the discovery of the body on the island.

He said: “I’m extremely sorry and my sympathy goes to the people concerned.

“I’m sorry it’s happened.”