The hunt for a couple missing in Spain is set to continue after a body found in the Costa Blanca region was ruled out of the investigation.

Used car dealer Anthony O'Malley and his 55-year-old wife Linda, from Llangollen, have been missing since September.

A decomposed body was found earlier this month alongside the A7 road in the Villajoyosa region of Benidorm.

It has been there for seven months, five months too long for it to be either Anthony or Linda O'Malley

Danny Collins Costa Blanca News

North Wales Police have confirmed that officers leading the hunt for the missing pair have been informed of the development.

Danny Collins from Costa Blanca News, a local English-language newspaper, said the remains did not belong to either of the couple.

"It has been there for seven months, five months too long for it to be either Anthony or Linda O'Malley," he said.

The couple, originally from Cheshire and Merseyside, flew from Manchester to Malaga on 30 August but they failed to appear for their return flight on September 13.

Their disappearance has shocked Llangollen residents

They had apparently been hoping to buy a home in Spain but on 23 September the auction for the Villajoyosa holiday home they had been interested in went unattended.

The couple had planned a new life on the Spanish Costa, an area popular with British expatriates.

Mr O'Malley's brother Bernard and Mrs O'Malley's daughter Nicola had been to Spain to try to solve the disappearance of the couple, which is said to be a complete mystery.

The couple's joint account card was used for several days after the pair went missing and was eventually stopped by their bank.

It was used at various locations including hypermarkets and cashpoints and around �20,000 was spent.

The unidentified body was discovered during a grass cutting operation.