POLICE divers will return to a North Yorkshire canal today to search the spot where the body of a murdered Oriental man was found.

Detectives investigating the case are still struggling to identify the victim, four days after his body was pulled out of Selby Canal, close to Burn Bridge, near the A19 between Brayton and Burn.

They have renewed their appeal for anybody who recognises the man’s distinctive clothing – including a pair of khaki-coloured long-johns – to get in touch.

It is believed the body could have been in the water for about two or three weeks.

Burn parish councillor Beryl Phillipson urged anybody who might have seen any suspicious activity at Burn Bridge to contact the police.

She said: “This is a terrible thing to have happened in Burn.

“You never expect something like this to happen. It is incredibly sad.

“This man must have some parents somewhere and it’s so sad to have lost a son like that.

“We are a good community in Burn for informing the police if there’s anything happening and I hope that if anyone has seen anything they will let the police know.”

Detective Superintendent Karnail Dulku, who is leading the investigation, previously told The Press that the man had died of serious head injuries.

“What we have here is an Oriental man who has been brutally murdered and his body dumped in the canal,” he said.

He said the man was 5ft 7ins tall and weighed about ten stone, with black, straight collar-length hair.

He was wearing black underpants with the logo PROEA, khaki green long-john type trousers with the logo UTE-JIAO and a Calvin Klein t-shirt with a distinctive white pattern.

He was not wearing any shoes or socks.

An area of the canal towpath remains cordoned off, with officers guarding the scene and questioning all passers-by.