THE BODY of a middle-aged man was discovered in a reservoir near Bolton.

The body was spotted by fishermen near the northern embankment of Anglezarke Reservoir, close to Chorley today.

Emergency services, including Bolton Mountain Rescue, raced to the scene off Moor Road where they found passing hill-walkers had pulled the body part way out of the water onto the embankment.

Rescue teams confirmed that the man was dead and although a post-mortem had last night still to be conducted, police said there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances.

They have yet to name the man but say he was from the Chorley area.

Bolton Mountain Rescue team leader, Garry Rhodes, said he believed colleagues in the Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team had been searching for the same man in the area in mid-January.

"It appeared the body had been there for some time, maybe a few weeks," he said.

Eight Bolton volunteers were called to the scene in three Landrovers at 1.10pm.

Although the incident was in the Bowland Pennine area, Bolton members were deployed because they were out training in the Rivington area.

Mr Rhodes said they had joined ambulance crews in helping to find the body, which took around 15 minutes.

Deputy team leader Geoff Seddon, a white water kayaker who lives near Rivington, brought canoes with him, but they were not needed, with Preston firefighters deploying a boat to recover the body.

The North West Air Ambulance was also called to the scene but left after establishing the man was dead.

Mr Rhodes said: "Police decided it was best to bring the body over to where the emergency services were waiting using a fire service boat but we supplied a body-bag and stretcher.

"The body was about seven minutes from the road but it was not a difficult location to get to. We helped lift the man onto the stretcher and over the wall of the embankment and then waited for the undertaker to arrive.

"It was quite a big response, with a lot of emergency service teams. But that is standard because when the ambulance service are told a body has been pulled out of the water they don't assume the person is dead.

"You have to assume there is still a chance they are alive so when it subsequently becomes quite a simple operation it looks like an over-reaction."

Crew Manager Mark Warwick, of Preston Fire Station, said the service had deployed three firefighters in a boat to recover the body.

Fire crews from Chorley and Penwortham were also called to the scene.

Insp Damian Kitchen, of Lancashire Police, said: "The body was that of a middle-aged male from the local area.

"The circumstances are being investigated and have been referred to the coroner. At this time there appear to be no suspicious circumstances."