Body found in kayaker hunt

POLICE hunting for a missing kayaker found a body yesterday.

Stephen Taylor, 54, was last seen on Saturday morning intending to paddle from Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, to Lepe beach in Southampton.

Mr Taylor, an experienced canoeist, was in touch with partner Michelle Fuller throughout the day. She called the police when he failed to return to their home in Gosport, Hampshire, that evening. A search involving a helicopter and eight lifeboats took place overnight, and a body was found in the water at Newtown Creek on the Isle of Wight at around 11am on Sunday. A Hampshire Police spokesman said: ‘Mr Taylor’s family have been notified ... Formal identification procedures have not yet taken place.’