Body found in UK river could be missing Kiwi

Johnny Sleigh was last seen leaving a bar in the Holborn area of central London on May 7. Photo / Supplied

London police have found a body in the Thames River, which could be that of missing New Zealander Johnny Sleigh.

Mr Sleigh, from Waimate in South Canterbury, went missing in the British capital on May 7.

The 36-year-old was last seen leaving a bar in the Holborn area of central London.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said a body had been found near Tower Bridge on Monday at 11.30pm in London (10.30am on Tuesday NZT).

The spokesman said the body was found by Coastguard and had been recovered from the river.

Asked if the body was Mr Sleigh's, he said: "It is one line of inquiry".

The spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified.

Mr Sleigh's siblings arrived in London to join the search after being delayed by 24 hours because of the ash cloud.

His sister Catherine Booth and brother David Sleigh departed New Zealand for London on Sunday to help friends and police in the search.

They were delayed in Los Angeles by the volcanic ash cloud affecting European air travel, but arrived in London at 5.15am local time (4.15pm NZT) on Tuesday.

A Scotland Yard detective met them on arrival and helped them through customs before getting them up to speed on the investigation, their mother Caroline Sleigh told the Timaru Herald.

CCTV footage was being examined after it emerged Mr Sleigh had planned to walk home, not catch a bus from Oxford Circus as initially thought.

Mrs Sleigh earlier said she wasn't sure her children being in London would make a difference to the case, but "it will make a difference to them".

"They just felt they needed to be on the spot, they just felt so helpless here," she said.

"I don't think they really can do a lot more but they just want to be there, be there for their friends and be there to see what happens."

Mr Sleigh, an engineering draughtsman, had been living in London for about six years.

The last sighting of him was on security camera, leaving the club at 1.20am last Saturday.

- with NZPA