THE body of a warehouse worker was found in the River Darwen yesterday after concerned colleagues raised the alarm when he failed to arrive for work.
Bachelor Kenneth Ainsworth, 62, of Anchor Drive, Darwen, was found in the river off Foundry Street, at the rear of the town's Sainsbury store.
Friends at Crown Wallcoverings, Belgrave Mill, Darwen, where he had worked for more than 40 years, called in police after failing to find Mr Ainsworth during their own search.
His relatives have been informed and a post mortem examination is due to be carried out today.
Det Sgt Chris Hughes of Darwen CID said: "Mr Ainsworth was one of the companies most long-serving and reliable employees.
"When he didn't arrive for work in the morning some of his colleagues retraced his route to work. We later found his body in the River Darwen during a search of the town centre.
"There do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
"He had no obvious signs of injury and we are now awaiting the results of the post mortem examination to establish how he died."
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article