Missing man is found in canal

An underwater search unit recovered the body near Dockfield Road in Shipley. His death is not being treated as suspicious.

Mr Allison, 32, of St Paul's Road, Manningham, was last seen on December 22 after enjoying a Christmas drink at the Noble Comb pub in Shipley with work colleagues from Pace. He was due to join his sister and her family in Southport for the holiday period, but never turned up.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said Mr Allison's family had been informed.

He said: "Further inquiries are being conducted. The family wishes to thank everybody for their support and kind wishes."

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Sedgwick, of Toller Lane CID, said officers were alerted by a member of the public who spotted the body in the canal about a mile from the Noble Comb.

He said: "Tragically the body has been identified as that of Michael Allison, although the exact circumstances of how he died remain a mystery.

"We are not treating his death as suspicious and, at this stage, he doesn't appear to have suffered any other injuries."

The body was discovered at 12.45pm yesterday and a Home Office post mortem examination had been conducted, he added.

Mr Allison's disappearance sparked a major police investigation, with more than 100 posters appealing for information put up around Shipley, Frizinghall and Manningham.

Officers from British Transport Police and divers from the West Yorkshire Police Underwater Unit searched railway embankments and stretches of the Leeds- Liverpool canal. Police officers examined outbuildings and derelict garages.

Police became more concerned for his well-being last week after a taxi driver contacted them to say he took a passenger fitting Mr Allison's description to Norwood Road at about 9pm - a mile and a quarter from his home. Officers undertook house-to-house inquiries in the Norwood Road area over the weekend.

His family has also made emotional appeals for information on his whereabouts.