WILTSHIRE Police are appealing for the owner of an abandoned rucksack to come forward after calling off an emergency search and rescue operation in the River Avon in Bradford on Avon.

Following a report that a bag had been found in the reeds on Tuesday morning, officers were assisted by the Wiltshire Search and Rescue team to conduct a thorough search, amid fears someone had fallen or jumped into the water.

A police spokesman said: “The searches are now complete and nothing further was found in the river. Enquiries are continuing.

“We believe the bag belongs to a woman who had been into the Co-op the previous evening.

“If you think the bag belongs to you, please call 101. Proof of ownership will be required.”

Several members of the Wiltshire Search and Rescue team conducted a thorough search of the River Avon, arriving around 11am and searching until about 1.30pm.

They covered the river from the Town Bridge downstream towards the McKeever Bridge but nothing was found.

The bag was discovered early in the morning by James Sullivan-Tailyour, the owner of the nearby Swan Hotel.

He said: “I was walking back across the Town Bridge when I noticed an orange and black bag stuck in the reeds.

“Because people throw things in there, I walked round to have a closer look and noticed that it was a backpack.”

Mr Sullivan-Tailyour said he also noticed various items strewn in the reeds, including a mobile phone charger, bits of paper and medication.

On a nearby bench, he discovered a couple of cigarette lighters and filter papers and headphones under the bench.

Concerned for the owner’s safety, he called police, who were on the scene from 7.30am.

Various valuables were found strewn in the weeds and on the bank on the Bull Pit side of the river.

Officers retrieved a rucksack, a purse, a woman’s make-up bag containing brushes and beauty products, and antibiotics from the river.

Some sanitary towels, a phone charger and cans of drinks, as well as savoury snacks were also pulled out of the long weeds.

In addition, the headphones, lighters, some cigarette filters and other small items were found strewn across the bench.