A St Andrews beach became a crime scene for a time on Thursday afternoon when a man’s body was discovered near rocks below the Kinkell Braes caravan park.
The police received a phone call from the Forth Coastguard around 3.10pm advising that a fully clothed body had been found by a walker on the East Sands, close to where the beach meets the cliffs.
Police recovered the body with the assistance of the local coastguard.
A Fife police spokesman said: ”An inquiry has been launched and is at an early stage. However, initial indications are that there are no suspicious circumstances.”
As investigations continued it was unclear whether the man had slipped or fallen from the cliff or whether his body had been washed ashore.
Low tide at St Andrews was 3.49pm meaning the tide was virtually at its lowest ebb when the body being discovered.
The Courier understands the dead man is not thought to be local. It is understood the police were dealing with Strathclyde Police during their investigations as they sought to trace his place of work and relatives.
By 5.30pm, with the body removed and police having left the scene, the beach had returned to normality.
Although Fife schools broke up for the summer holidays on Thursday, there were few people on the beach around the time of the discovery with the hazy, blustery conditions keeping most people at home.