12-year-old girl drowns in the River Irwell

Greater Manchester Police said the girl was found by underwater search teams after officers were called to the River Irwell in Bury just before 8pm on Thursday.

With the country set to see the hottest day of the year so far this weekend, police issued a warning about the dangers of cooling off in water.

Detective Inspector Andrew Naismith, of GMP's Bury district, said: "This is an incredibly tragic incident in which a young girl has lost her life, and my thoughts are with her family at this devastating time.

"We have a team of detectives working on this, but there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances at this time.

"With the warmer weather, it's tempting to go into the water to cool off, but I'd like to remind everyone of the dangers of playing near or swimming in rivers, lakes and reservoirs and would strongly urge against this."