River death woman named

A young woman believed to have been swept away by a storm-swollen river was named by police today.

Kirsty Jones, 21, went into the fast-flowing River Usk, near Watergate Bridge, in Brecon, Mid Wales, on Saturday evening.

Her body was discovered this morning by a walker more than six miles downstream in Talybont-on-Usk.

Fire brigades and mountain rescue teams, working on foot and in kayaks, were involved in the hunt for the missing woman.

Dyfed-Powys Police are continuing to investigate the full circumstances surrounding why the woman went into the river.

In the meantime, officers urged the public to stay away from the water's edge today amid fears others could be swept away.

A spokeswoman for Dyfed-Powys Police said: "Police can confirm that the female who died in the River Usk, Brecon is 21-year-old Kirsty Jones from the Brecon area.

"Her family have asked that they be left in piece to grieve. They do not want to be contacted by press at this time and have not given us anything to release on their behalf as yet."

The body of an 85-year-old woman who was reported missing on Saturday has also been found in the River Severn at Newtown.

A spokeswoman for Dyfed-Powys Police said: "Following a two-day search, which included specialist search and rescue teams and the dog-handling unit, the body of the female was found by a police officer at approximately lunchtime (yesterday) on the banks of river.

"Dyfed-Powys Police is not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident."

Powys councillor Evan Morgan, who lives in Sennybridge, near Brecon, said the river levels were "very high" in the local area over the weekend when Ms Jones was swept away.

"Obviously this is a tragic event but accidents do happen," he said.

"The rivers must have been very high, I should have thought, because we had torrential rain for a long period of time.

"I know the by-roads were like streams and were awash. The rivers must have risen to a very high level.

"The levels have dropped a fair bit now but it is quite stormy and there is a lot of heavy rain forecast. I think we are in for a rough-ish 24 to 48 hours."