A man’s body has been found on the Severn estuary after his disappearance sparked a major search by the coastguard
The body of a Swindon man has been found near his boat moored in the Severn estuary on Saturday afternoon.
The 75-year-old’s disappearance sparked a major search by the coastguard after he was reported missing earlier in the day.
An operation to find the man commenced after his sail boat was found empty at St Pierre Pill, near Chepstow.
Swansea Coastguard said the man had been on board his boat on Friday evening but failed to meet a friend the next day as planned.
At this stage the circumstances surrounding his death are unknown but a spokesman for Swansea coastguard said they believed the man had fallen into the water accidentally.
He told the Swindon Advertiser: “We received a call shortly before 11am on Saturday so a lifeboat was scrambled to search the waters.
“Almost three hours later we found the man’s body close to his boat. However, it was stuck in mud so we had to wait until the tide was out before we could recover it.
“His body was close to the boat so it is believed he fell in accidentally.”
A spokesman for the police force said that his death is not currently being treated as suspicious and the family have been informed and are being comforted by specially trained officers.
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