THE BODY of a man discovered by a roadside in Yate is believed to be of missing 70-year-old Kenneth Coppin, police say.

Emergency services were called to Rodford Way following the discovery at 8.10am.

Mr Coppin had been reported missing from his Yate home at 11.50pm on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said that the death is being treated as unexplained and that investigations are continuing.

Eyewitnesses to the scene have said they saw a body covered in a silver blanket, with some speculating the body is of an elderly man but this is yet to be confirmed.

Others have said that as the road lies near Abbotswood Primary School and Culverhill School that many children had been walking by as emergency services were in attendance.