A BODY recovered from the River Foss in York over the weekend is believed to be that of missing Malton man Neil Langthorne.

Firefighters were called to the weir on the River Foss next to the St George's Field car park on Saturday to recover the body, which had been spotted by a coach driver.

The body, which appeared to have been in the river for a considerable time, was taken to York District Hospital.

A post-mortem was carried carried out at the hospital yesterday.

"Although no formal identification has been made, all the indications are that it is the missing man from Malton, Neil Langthorne," the police spokesman said.

"The coroner has been informed and inquiries are continuing to try to establish the cause of death, but it doesn't appear suspicious at this time."Neil, 24, of the Corn Mill, Railway Street, Malton, was reported missing from home on October 31.

He was last seen alive on the night of Wednesday, October 28, after he and a friend, Mark 'Rob' Roberts, had tried to get into the Gallery nightclub in Clifford Street after spending the afternoon and evening on a pub crawl in York.

They were turned away by a bouncer as Rob was wearing white trainers.

The two friends then became separated and Rob returned home to Malton by taxi at 1.30am on Thursday, October 29.

Neil's mother, Jackie Sixsmith, of Hoxton Road, Scarborough, was too upset to speak to the Evening Press today.

Earlier this month, Mrs Sixsmith said she believed Neil had drowned after falling into York's other river, the Ouse.

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