THE body of a canoeist recovered from a canal has been identified as 36-year-old Trevor Turnbull who came from the village of Hamstreet, near Ashford.

Mr Turnbull was last seen by witnesses clinging to his canoe after it capsized last Sunday in the Royal Military Canal at Playden, near Rye in Sussex.

Mr Turnbull had apparently been struggling with the rough water.

A Sussex Police spokesman confirmed that Mr Turnbull’s body was recovered by a specialist police underwater search team. An inquest will be held into the tragedy.