French couple 'having sex' on a castle die after plunging 40ft into moat

Police announce pair were discovered beneath a fort in Chausey

Police in France confirmed that the couple were found dead in the moat beneath the castle

(GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/Getty Images)

A French couple have fallen to their death while having sex at a historic fortress, it has been reported.

The couple in their early thirties apparently fell into the moat from the walls surrounding the castle at the Vauban Fort on the island of Chausey Archipelago in the English Channel. Reports have said the drop into the moat is 40ft high.

The naked bodies of a man and woman, who were both born in 1984, were found on Thursday morning.

Their belongings were reportedly found "above" at the castle. The man was found in a dried-out part of the moat while the body of a woman was found immersed in shallow water.

Police in the area told French Le Figaro newspaper that it was possible the pair were engaging in "lovemaking that could have gone wrong".

The couple were both from the Normandy region of France.

The fort was built on the orders of Napoleon III in 1859, and later held 300 German and Austrian prisoners of war during the First World War.