Mystery of woman found dead in the sea off Watchet coast

POLICE are appealing for help to identify a woman found dead in the sea off Watchet by the crew of a fishing boat yesterday.
The partially-clothed woman is believed to be aged between 40 to 60 years and may have been in the water for several days.
She was spotted about 550 yards from the coast area at about noon and was recovered from the water by the Coastguard and Minehead Lifeboatmen.
Police are liaising with neighbouring forces along the Bristol Channel to see if the woman’s description matches any reported missing persons.
The dead woman was described as white, about 5 ft 7 ins tall, of medium to plump build, with short collar-length brown hair.
She was wearing calf length black zip-up leather boots and a brown coloured T-Line branded fleece jacket.
Police said a post mortem examination to determine her cause of death was due to be held later this week.
A spokesman said police were keeping an open mind on the woman’s death, pending the outcome of the post mortem.
Police want to hear from anybody who recognises the description of the woman or who has had a female family member or friend go missing during the past week.
Anybody able to help is asked to contact Taunton CID by calling 0845 4567000.

• Our photograph shows the lighthouse on Watchet Harbour sea wall. Photo by Ian Chilton.

Lifeboat crew save deer from drowning

LIFEBOATMEN in Minehead were called to one of their more unusual rescue operations - to save a deer from drowning.
Coastguards alerted the lifeboat crew after receiving a call to say a deer had been seen entering the water off Culvercliffe on Thursday morning, January 31.
The station’s new Atlantic 85 Lifeboat was launched with helmsman Adam Bonar in command.
The crew arrived quickly spotted the young deer about 330 yards offshore and they could see the animal was extremely tired and distressed.
A decision was made to ‘coax’ it back to shore, where a team from Porlock Coastguards was waiting to retrieve it.
However, as soon as the deer reached land, it immediately returned to the water where the lifeboat crew again tried to encourage it to go ashore.
On the second attempt the startled animal made for some bushes just off the beach where it stayed for a time.
After the lifeboatmen again tried to catch the animal, it made a third attempt to swim away and this time the lifeboat managed to come alongside it and recover the deer and secure it to be carried back to the lifeboat station.
The deer stayed on board until the lifeboat was recovered and it was then checked over by a local vet.
Once the crew were confident the deer was in good health, although wet and tired, they took it to North Hill, Minehead, and released it.
Mr Bonar said: “We get called to a wide range of incidents but this was one of the more unusual.
“The deer proved quite tricky to recover and did not seem overly appreciative of its trip in a lifeboat.”

• Our photograph shows Adam Bonar with Paul Marsh and Richard Gay holding the deer. The fourth crewmember who was present throughout the rescue but is not pictured was Phil Sanderson. Photo submitted.