A FISHERMAN has spoken of his shock as he hauled up a body in his nets in the western Solent near Lymington.

The fisherman, who wants to stay anonymous, pulled in one of the net anchors and was horrified to find the body of a man draped over it.

The 36-year-old, who lives near Burton, Christchurch, said: "I pulled one end up and went to pull in the second anchor but it was stuck fast.

"I gave it a good heave - I thought it was caught in an old lobster pot - and the body came up face down.

"I've seen bodies before, but it was very ghostly in a flat calm in the mist."

The fisherman was just west of the mouth of the Lymington River on Tuesday when he made the grim discovery.

He added: "The body was folded over the anchor as I pulled it up and the legs were hanging down.

"It was pitch black and I only had a head light on but it had a shock of black, matted hair and was clothed in what looked like a blue denim shirt.

"I grabbed the back end of the anchor and it slid off, sinking very rapidly."

Police carried out a thorough search of the area with the help of Army divers from Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre, but nothing was found and the operation was called off.

A police spokesman said: "There was no doubt in the fisherman's mind it was a body and we have no reason to doubt his word."

The shock find came just days after the body of Middlesex millionaire Amarjit Chohan, 46, was found drifting off Bournemouth Pier.

His mother Charanjit Kaur, his wife Nancy and two sons Ravinder and Devinder are still missing.

The police spokesman said there was nothing to suggest a link with the body that was found in the sea off Lymington.