THE BODY of a man, found in a submerged car in the River Avon in Evesham, is believed to be Anthony Taylor who went missing in the early hours of Thursday (November 21) after a night out in Worcester.

Mr Taylor, 22, had recently moved to Charford in Bromsgrove but is originally from Worcester. The car was pulled from the water off Boat Lane at around 6pm yesterday evening (Sunday).

Det Insp Dean Jones of West Mercia Police said: “The last contact with him was in the Evesham area early on Thursday and since then a thorough search has been under way which has included a team of police divers, Severn Area Rescue Association and other specialist resources.

“Tragically it appears we have found Mr Taylor in his car which was recovered from the river near the ferry crossing off Boat Lane.”

He added, although formal identification had not yet taken place, the force had been in close contact with Mr Taylor’s family throughout and they had been updated on this latest development.

“Our thoughts are with them at this sad time.

 “We would like to thank everyone who has helped during our enquiries to locate Mr Taylor and the media for publicising our appeals to find him,” said DI Jones.

The Worcestershire Coroner is due to be informed and a post mortem and inquest will be arranged in due course.