West Kirby beach
The body of a man in his 20s was found washed up on the beach in West Kirby (Robo68Roberts/Twitter)

The decomposed body of a man has been washed up on a beach in West Kirby, near the Wirral. Police believe the body had been in the water for months.

Merseyside Police said the man had not been identified and his death was categorised as "unexplained".

The body was found by a member of the public and a post-mortem was inconclusive. Further tests were being carried out. There were no obvious signs of injury, said police.

The corpse was thought to be that of a man in his 20s. He is described as white, around 5ft 10, of average build and with short, dark hair.

He was wearing an Armani jacket, a Next polo shirt and jeans, a Diesel belt and size 9 white Adidas trainers with black stripes.

A lighter, a Swiss army knife, keys and money were found in his pockets.

Detectives believe he may have died in the summer or even earlier.

DI Judith Blease said: "We are working hard to identify this man and are liaising with neighbouring forces as part of the investigation.

"I would appeal to anyone who either recognises his description or who has any information that may assist our investigation to come forward."