A LARGE-scale rescue operation has been called off this afternoon following the discovery of a woman’s body in the River Dee.

Police are now working to identify the body believed to be that of a 60-year-old woman.

The police have thanked all those involved in the operation including mountain rescue teams from Kendal, Furness and Kirkby Stephen, North West Police Underwater Search Team, coastguards and a RAF helicopter.

Police were alerted to the scene at around 5pm last night when a car was seen being washed into the flooded River Dee.

The car was found by rescue teams washed a mile down stream and police later recovered the body of a drowned dog from the car.

There was a substantial search overnight of the River Dee and the River Rawthey.

The search ended at 12:30am last night and restarted at 8am this morning along an 11-mile stretch of the river.