Body in the canal may be from Burnley

Shortly before midday on Saturday, a member of the public reported seeing a body in the Leeds Liverpool Canal on Bolton Road in Blackburn.

Officers attended along with colleagues from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and the body of a man was found in the water and subsequently recovered.

Despite enquiries made by officers so far the identity of the man has not been established. The cause of his death remains unknown, however it is not being treated as suspicious.

Det. Insp Tim McDermott from Blackburn CID said: “This is a tragic scenario and I am very mindful that this man will have friends and family who need to be informed.

“I have an open mind on whether he is local to Blackburn and how long he has been in the water.

“He could be someone who has travelled to Blackburn from outside the area or the slow flow of the canal from east to west could mean he entered the water somewhere other than Blackburn, perhaps Burnley or even further afield.

“If anyone recognises the description please contact us, even if you are unsure”.

The man is described as white, approximately in his thirties or forties, around 6ft 3in. tall, of medium to heavy build with a shaven head.

He was wearing a blue fleece hat with three “jester” type tassels on the top, a lightweight waterproof Nike jacket that was two tone in dark and light blue, black Adidas tracksuit bottoms and a black and white striped t-shirt with some buttons at the shoulder.

He also has a tattoo across the back of his shoulders, a tattoo of a woman and some Chinese symbols on his left forearm along with a tribal type tattoo on his inner right forearm.

Anyone with information can call us on 101 quoting incident reference LC-20170121-0526.