A six-year-old boy and his grandmother have been found dead in a duck pond.

The boy – understood to be from Rutland – and his 71-year-old grandmother had been reported missing on Thursday night.

Police divers pulled their bodies from an icy lake in the hamlet of Holywell, near Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire.

It is thought the pensioner, who lived in Castle Bytham, and her grandson may have stopped to feed the ducks at the remote pond on their journey back to the boy's home on Thursday, after spending the day together.

However, the Mail Online reported that officers investigating the deaths feared they may never discover what happened.

Detective Chief Inspector David Wood was reported as saying: "We believe one of the possible scenarios is that they were driving back to family and they stopped to feed the ducks.

"This is a tragic accident. There are no witnesses and we may never know exactly what happened. There are no suspicious circumstances and this is not a crime scene."

The boy's mother, who is believed to live in Ketton, called police at 9.20pm on Thursday.

The boy is believed to have spent Wednesday night at his grandmother's and was expected home on Thursday.

Police visited the grandmother's home and, after finding it was empty, started a search for the pair.

Police called in RAF search and rescue helicopter crews, who found an empty car close to the duck pond at about an hour-and-a-half later. Soon afterwards the body of a woman was pulled from the water and, despite attempts at resuscitation, was declared dead at the scene.

The search for the boy continued through the night.

Shortly before 4am yesterday, officers from Lincolnshire Underwater Search Unit, found a child's body in the pond.

Det Chief Insp Wood said: "Both bodies were found near a grate over a sluice at one end of the pond.

"We are not aware of any previous fatalities on this stretch of water.

"Officers are with the family. We are working with the coroner to establish a cause of death for both the woman and the boy."

The pond, which stretches the length of the hamlet, is surrounded by a grass verge and is home to dozens of swans and ducks.

One stretch of the pond has a concrete platform, which is understood to be used for feeding the birds.

Last night, the pensioner's cleaner Hilary Barnsdale, 59, described her "great friend'' as an "outgoing, bubbly and very independent woman''.

Mrs Barnsdale said she had seen the woman's black car parked at the pond as she went past on the bus at about 4pm.

She said: "I thought it was a little strange, but I guess they were just there feeding the ducks before she drove him home, perhaps."

A police spokesman said the deaths were being investigated and post-mortem examinations would be carried out.

They said the pair were unlikely to be formally named until Monday.