A man who disappeared in Amster-dam on a pre-Christmas break with friends has been found dead in a canal just yards from his hotel.

The body of Baildon man Ian Walton, 36, was discovered exactly a month after he vanished, 100 yards from the hotel where he was staying.

Last night his heartbroken mother, Margaret, said Dutch police had told her Ian's death was not suspicious.

"They say there are no suspicious circumstances at all," said Mrs Walton, 59, from her home in North Ferriby, East Yorks. "He was found in the canal nearest to the City Hotel. He had everything on him - his mobile phone and money - and he had not been damaged in any way. It appears that he died by drowning on the day that he went missing."

Mr Walton, who worked as a shower installer, disappeared on the night of Saturday, December 20. He had only arrived in the Dutch city that morning with his friends Paul Holmes and Ian Shackleton for a four-day fun break.

Ian's friends returned to their hotel half an hour before he left an Irish bar where they had been having a drink. They reported him missing when he failed to return the next day. Family and friends, including Mrs Walton, made three trips to Amsterdam to search for him. They put up posters around the city and made public appeals for information on Dutch TV and radio stations.

And they had vowed to return to carry on with the hunt if there was no news.

Only the day before the grim discovery Ian's mother told the Telegraph & Argus: "We have to remain as positive as we can, he could still be out there."

But her hopes were shattered when she received a phone call from Dutch police chief Max Eman yesterday afternoon telling her his body had been found at midday.

Mrs Walton, who formerly owned a picture gallery in Ben Rhydding, near Ilkley, with Ian's father Laurie, 70, said last night: "It would appear he was going back to the hotel.

"When I was in Amsterdam the canals round there had slipways which hadn't got any railings. If it's late at night I suppose you could easily take the wrong turning."

Mrs Walton said the police had only searched one canal, some miles from the hotel.

"I told them he would have gone in the direction of the hotel but they seemed to think he would be staying in the bars. Nobody took any notice for a long time. There was no criminal activity and they don't search for missing people when there is no criminal activity - that's just the way it is there."

The tearful mum said they now had to arrange to bring her son, who lived in West Lane, home.

"I don't know if we'll go over there. We thought we would but the British Consulate has told us it isn't necessary. They are ringing in the morning and they will talk us though everything."

She added: "Ian is a greatly loved person who has been my dear son for 36 years. There are a lot of grieving friends in the area and it is going to be very hard for them.

"We always hoped and prayed that he would be found safe, but in my heart I doubted it because he never would have been away from his friends and his family for Christmas."

Mr Holmes, said he was shell-shocked, adding: "It's just hard coming to terms with the fact that he's not going to be around anymore. When he was missing we still clung to hope and believed he was still around.

"Now we know he's not and it leaves an empty void. He was a one-off personality and there will be a big gap to fill in our lives. I don't think he'll ever be replaced.

"Ian knew a lot of people and always kept in touch with them. He knew people in Ireland and Jersey and I'm sure people will turn up from all over to pay their respects at his funeral."