THE BODY OF a missing British backpacker has been found off the coast of Cambodia, local police have said. 

Amelia Bambridge, from Worthing, West Sussex, was last seen on the island of Koh Rong in the Sihanoukville Province late last Wednesday 23 October.

Staff at Police Beach, a private venue which hosts regular parties, found the 21-year-old’s purple rucksack, containing her purse, phone and bank cards, the following morning.

Major general Chuon Narin, police chief for Preah Sihanouk province, said on Tuesday that the search has been expanded to nearby islands and further offshore in the Gulf of Thailand.

“We have decided the search mission will not be ended until we find her alive, or her body if she has died,” he said.

Narin later said that given the area she was last seen, it was feared she had drowned.

He added that local fishermen and neighbouring provinces in southwestern Cambodia had been alerted.

About 150 volunteers and Cambodian police were involved in searches of the shoreline and jungle for the missing backpacker. 

Police confirmed today that Amelia’s body had been discovered in the sea.

“We found the body of the missing British woman,” Major general Narin said.

With reporting from AFP