Dead body found in 'underground ancient cave' in popular UK beauty spot

Adead body has been found inside an underground cave at a well-known British beauty spot.

Officers from Essex Police have conducted a search of caves at Hangman's Woods and Deneholes after receiving reports of a body shortly after 2pm yesterday.

The woods and deneholes are located in Little Thurrock. The Woodland Trustdescribes Hangman's Wood as a "triangular wooded area" that is "mostly made up of oak, ash, sycamore and wild cherry". It comes after the 'UK's most dangerous plant' leaves toddler in A&E with second-degree burns.

The wood contains a number of deneholes which are often hibernation sites for bats. It has now been confirmed that there was a body within the caves.

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Deneholes - which were used as mines during the medieval period - are subterranean systems of chalk caves that are entered through vertical shafts.

The caves at Hangman's Woods are regarded as the best preserved deneholes that exist. They are a Scheduled Monument - a nationally important archaeological site or building which is given protection against unauthorised change.

Compared to others around the UK, they are particularly deep - with some reaching 20 metres under ground before hitting chalk.

There is also fencing around the area due to the colony of bats using it as an area to hibernate. For this reason, it's also considered a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Detective Inspector Lydia George said: “Utilising specialist equipment and skills and working with our partners, we recovered a body yesterday. Work is underway to establish who they are and the circumstances around how they came to be in the caves and how they died.

“I want to thank the community around this area for their support, particularly local businesses who kindly provided refreshments. We will provide further information as and when we are able to.”

Earlier this year, a Russian woman and her two young daughters were found living in an isolated cave in India.

Authorities in India discovered Nina Kutina, 40, and her daughters, aged six and four, during a routine patrol of Ramatirtha Hill, a popular tourist site on the coast of Karnataka, on July 9.

Officers said the family had been living in the cave for seven years, after Kutina's visa expired eight years ago. She told local media she spent her days in the cave by painting, singing, reading books, and living peacefully with her children.

“We convinced her to come out, stating that there were chances of landslides in the area,” a police spokesperson said, adding that when warned about snakes in the area, she replied that “the snakes are our friends and they don’t harm us unless we trouble them”.