Family devastated over death of water sports instructor in France

Nathan Thackwray, 20, from Yeadon, is believed to have gone for a swim during a party early on Saturday.

He has been working as a water sports instructor with 21 colleagues from the UK adventure tour operator Acorn, at Lake Ardres near Calais.

They were reported to have been on a night off after the departure of a group of children when he got into difficulty.

Two of his friends tried to rescue him using a pedalo boat but were unable to find him.

His friends alerted police at 2.40am and a helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging camera flew over the lake but was unable to locate him.

Mr Thackwray’s body was recovered by police divers the next morning after a five-hour search.

Relatives arrived in France on Sunday to formally identify his body.

His death is not being treated as suspicious.

Writing on her Facebook page, Nathan’s sister Jessica said: “Can’t even put into words how devastated I am, love you Nathan. Gonna miss you so much.”

She added: “Hasn’t sunk it yet. Can’t believe I won’t see my brother again.”

Ardres is a market town 25 minutes’ drive from the port of Calais.

The Ardres centre is positioned on the lake and the firm’s website describes it as a “large tranquil lake”.

Tour operator Acorn specialises in school and youth trips. It was established in 1982. The firm has adventure camps in the UK, France, Italy and Spain.

Nathan had been due to work at the adventure camp until August 26.

A spokeswoman for Acorn said: “We are unable to make any comment at the moment.”

A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out to determine the exact cause of death.