THE body of a woman has been found on a York railway line, police have said.

Officers were called to Moor Lane in Copmanthorpe, near York, at 9.25am on Sunday.

North Yorkshire Police said the main railway line had been closed while officers, including British Transport Police, tried to determine the woman's identity.

Trains were halted and disrupted on the east coast main line for several hours on Sunday morning, according to Network Rail.

Services between London and Scotland and across the Pennines were unable to run following the incident between York and Doncaster.

All lines reopened at around 11am but Network Rail warned of disruption continuing on the service until midday.

Virgin Trains East Coast tweeted its customers to warn of "major disruption".

Inspector Mark Henderson, from North Yorkshire Police, said: "Police are currently making inquires to identify the woman and inform her next of kin."

A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP) said: "At 9.17am on Sunday a report was received of a body of a person who had possibly been struck by a train at Earfit Lane, Copmanthorpe, York.

"Officers from BTP and North Yorkshire Police attended and a body of a woman was located and pronounced dead at the scene by members of the ambulance service.

"This incident is being treated as non-suspicious and a file is being prepared for the coroner. "

The discovery is not related to the search for missing woman Elizabeth Collier, North Yorkshire Police said.