POLICE have disclosed the body recovered from the Deneholes at Hangman's Woods earlier this week is that of a man, ending speculation that has been rife on social media that it was the remains of murdered schoolgirl Danielle Jones.

A statement from Essex Police says: Officers and partner agencies worked together using specialist equipment and skills to recover the body from the site off Stanford Road in Grays. "

Nub News understands the recovered body was near skeletal and had been in the caves for a considerable time.

Today (Friday, 1 August) Detective Inspector Lydia George added: "A forensic post-mortem examination took place yesterday where it was confirmed the remains are those of an adult man.

"However, we have not been able to confirm how the man died and further tests will be carried out to see if we can establish that.

A significant number of officers were involved in the recovery operation.

"Work to formally identify this man is ongoing and specialist officers are ready to support his family when we have been able to do that.

"And we continue to carry out enquiries to try determine how he came to be in the Deneholes.

"I want to thank the officers, and partners, who have worked diligently, professionally, and compassionately to ensure the man's dignity."

Hangman's Wood and Deneholes is a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) biological site of special scientific interest.

They were created by  medieval chalk mining, and are classified as a scheduled monument.

Details have not been disclosed about how the police were alerted to the presence of the body.