Next generation DNA technology has identified a body found in Scarborough Harbour 25 years ago as a missing London teacher.

The remains of the unknown man were recovered in the early hours of May 2, 1989.

He had been seen near Scarborough Harbour the same evening by an employee of The Dolman Hotel in Alma Square, where he had been staying.

Police inquiries established he had been booked in on April 29 and also stayed the night of the 30th - but not who he was.

An inquest opened in November 1989 had recorded an open verdict on "an unidentified male person" and subsequent cold-case reviews drew a blank.

But ‎Det Con Vincent Morris told a re-opened inquest yesterday that the file had never been closed.

Then police had been contacted by a Lucy Dawson who had spotted a picture on a national missing persons website, which she believed was of her father David Dawson.

‎Police used new techniques to test a DNA sample taken at the original post mortem, which had previoulsy been too degraded to yield results.

Police compare‎d it with samples from the missing man's children, Harry, Lucy, and Elizabeth to produce a 99 per cent positive match, and medical records showed David Dawson had suffered past injuries similar to those on the body.

‎Detectives traced him to a guest house in Bolton before his visit to Scarborough but were unable to shed any new light on what he was doing in the resort. He was 56 when he died.

His fi‎rst wife was still living but his second spouse Marlene died without ever finding out what happened to her husband.

Coroner Michael Oakley, who presided over the original inquest, said he was taking the unusual step of ‎re-opening the inquest for identification purposes, but his " open" conclusion still stood.

Praising Det Con Morris, of the Major Crime Unit, the coroner added: "It is thanks to you and technical advances in science that the family has had some closure after a long period of time."

The inquest was attended on behalf of the family by son Harry Dawson who declined to comment after the hearing.

Det Con Morris said: "Even two years ago we would not have had these DNA results which gives hope of solving similar cases. I'm really happy for the family. They have had some closure and most of the questions they have had over the past 25 years have been answered. At last they know what happened to their dad."