Body found in River Wharfe by police searching for missing man

A member of the public is believed to have found the body of a man at about 8.20am floating in the river at a location known locally as Watersole Lane.

The identity of the body was not immediately confirmed by police, but police had been searching for 22-year-old Clifford man Steven Johnson since he disappeared in the early hours of last Sunday after a night out with a friend in Wetherby.

Mr Johnson, a student teacher at Bradford College, had last been seen on the bridge over the river in the town centre sometime between 12.30am and 1am.

Police had made appeals for sightings of Mr Johnson including one to the driver of the private hire taxi seen on the bridge. They released photographs of Mr Johnson in a bid to jog the minds of anyone who might have seen him walking through Wetherby town centre or along country lanes on the edge of the town.

They had also checked Mr Johnson's mobile phone records and confirmed that he and become separated from his friend he had been out drinking with shortly after midnight on Saturday/Sunday.

Mr Johnson's family have been distraught since reporting him missing when he failed to return home from the night out on Sunday.

He has an older sister.

When he disappeared he was dressed in dark blue jeans and a plain dark blue T-shirt.