Surrey Police discovered a body next to the M25 near Leatherhead on Tuesday morning (May 7).

In a statement published online and across social media platforms, police said they had partially closed a section of the M25 motorway between Junctions 8 at Reigate and 9 for Leatherhead after finding a body at the side of the road.

As police rushed officers to attend the scene, they closed a lane of the M25 in the area.

A bridge spanning the motorway in both directions was also closed temporarily after the body was reported on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for Surrey Police said: "Officers are in attendance following a call reporting the discovery of a body at the side of the M25 in Walton-on-the Hill earlier today (7 May).

"The discovery was made around 9.30am between junctions 8 and 9.

"One lane of the clockwise carriageway has been closed. The bridge over the motorway has also been closed in both directions."

In a later update on the situation posted by Highways England around 1pm, the motorways authority said that all lanes in that section of the M25 had since reopened and traffic was flowing again.

Nevertheless, police remained on the scene where the body was found throughout Tuesday.

Surrey Police said they were investigating further and appealed to the public for help with their enquiries.

"Enquiries into the circumstances of the death are underway. Anyone with any information is asked to contact us on 101, quoting incident reference PR/P19102170," Surrey Police said.