Body found in hunt for swimmer who tried to reach windfarm four miles off shore

The body of a man who went missing after swimming in a river on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK has been found.

Haydn Griffiths was last seen heading towards wind turbines in the River Mersey, off the coast of New Brighton, in the Wirral, at about 10.30pm last Tuesday.

The 23-year-old disappeared in the water, trying to reach a target four miles away from shore, and never resurfaced.

Temperatures exceeded 40°C across the country – the first time in history – and people were urged not to swim in rivers to cool down.

On Friday, police warned the public not to carry out plans for a community search of the shoreline to avoid further incidents.

But Haydn’s sister Megan pleaded with volunteers to keep up the search for her ‘incredible baby brother’.

She wrote on Facebook: ‘This is the most important search in the whole wide world as my incredible baby brother is out there.

‘He is the strongest human I’ve ever met and I know he’s out there fighting.’

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency suspended the ‘extensive’ search across the area after two days.

A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: ‘At this time the death is being treated as unexplained and a post-mortem examination will take place to establish the cause.

‘The body is yet to be formally identified.’

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