POLICE searching for missing ferryman Terry Nield yesterday found a man's body in the River Severn.
The discovery was made by police officers outside the Lower Lode Inn, near Tewkesbury, where the 56-year-old had lived.
Late yesterday, formal identification had not yet taken place, but police said Mr Nield's next-of-kin had been spoken to by officers.
They said the man's death was not being treated as suspicious.
Staff at the pub, for whom he had worked by ferrying people across the river, said they and Mr Nield's family were too upset to comment on the news. But people who had benefitted from the service he had run for the last two summer seasons, spoke of their sorrow.
Gary Payne runs boat trips on the River Avon in Tewkesbury and said he had met Mr Nield when using the ferry.
He said: "It's tragic for anyone to die on the river and especially for someone who works on it. If you do work on it, you're aware of the dangers. My boat, for instance, is designed so people can't fall over into the water."
He said that if it was confirmed that the body was that of Mr Nield, he wondered whether he might have tripped over something on his boat and fallen into the river.
"There are a lot of things that you can trip over on."
He added that, although he had not known the man, known as "Terry the Ferry" well, he had been polite and responsible when carrying out his duties.
Sorrow
"He would always come across to the riverbank when you rang the bell," he said.
Former Tewkesbury mayor Geoff Pope also met Mr Nield while using the ferry.
He said: "It's a great sorrow. He was part of the fabric of the town, as the pub is even though it's on the other side of the river."
He added that people must be aware of the dangers of rivers and how they could claim lives.
Mr Nield, a single man who lived with his dog in the pub or in a touring caravan nearby, was reported missing on Sunday, just over 24 hours after last being seen at the Haw Bridge Inn at Tirley. It is thought he sailed his boat back to Lower Lode, where it was found moored, along with his locked van and his dog.
