POLICE were today waiting to discover if the body of a man recovered from the River Ouse in York is that of Nicholas Lightowler, who vanished from a luxury motor cruiser found drifting on the flood-swollen river two weeks ago.

A man riding a jet-ski on the river spotted the body and called police at about 1pm on Saturday.

A team of divers from North Yorkshire Police underwater search unit were called in to recover the body, which was found about 200 metres upstream of Clifton Bridge.

The body was taken to the mortuary at York District Hospital and the coroner's office was informed.

A post-mortem examination was due to be carried out today and the body formally identified.

Inspector Andy Everitt, of York police, said: "Inquiries at this time are ongoing to identify if the body is that of Nicholas Lightowler who went missing from a boat two weeks ago. At this time police are contacting his family and relatives and informing them of this latest development, although it cannot be positively confirmed that the body is that of Mr Lightowler."

The spot where the body was discovered is close to the area where Mr Lightowler, 57, from Leeds, vanished after taking the Sealine F33 motor cruiser from Yacht Service Ltd, based at Naburn Marina, on Friday, August 2.

Austrian-born Mr Lightowler was said to be a prospective buyer of the £115,000 craft. The marina's management said he had taken the cruiser for a test drive during the afternoon, but later had taken the vessel out of the marina against their advice.

Since his disappearance, police divers and search teams have been scouring the stretch of river and its banks, near Nether Poppleton, where the damaged boat was found drifting with no one aboard and its engine still running.

Police believed the craft may have hit a bridge near Overton and it was feared Mr Lightowler, who needed regular dialysis treatment, could have been thrown overboard. The boat had earlier been seen struggling to negotiate Skeldergate Bridge on the swollen river. An eyewitness reported seeing the craft hit the underneath of the bridge and lose radar and aerial equipment.

It also emerged that he was due to appear at High Wycombe Magistrates Court, in Buckinghamshire, only days after his disappearance, charged with arson with intent to endanger life following a fire which gutted a £750,000 thatched cottage in Hazlemere.

Updated: 11:48 Monday, August 19, 2002