THE body of a climber from York who had been missing in the French Alps for more than two months has been found.

Factory worker Marcin Kuffel, 33, of Hull Road, disappeared after travelling to the resort of Chamonix at the start of December and is believed to have died after falling while climbing a mountain in the region.

Mountaineers found the body of Mr Kuffel, who moved to York about ten years ago and worked at the Pro-Pak food factory in Malton, on Saturday afternoon. His younger brother Bart, who lives in the Poppleton Road area, is preparing to travel to France to make arrangements for the body to be transported to his native Poland for the funeral.

The body had been buried under snow and was only discovered when warmer temperatures led to a thaw.

Bart, 30, said: “Climbing was his life - the mountains were where he felt at home. Whenever he was climbing, he just loved it. What I will most remember about him was that he was such a really, really nice guy. All my life, I never heard a bad word said about him, and everybody who knew Marcin has been saying such good things about him and how much they will miss him.”

Bart said it was still not entirely clear how his brother had died, but he may have fallen from a rockface. His body was found near a mountainside shelter for climbers, and is believed to have been identified by his passport.

Mr Kuffel, who had 16 years’ climbing experience, had originally intended to travel to Chamonix with a friend, but after they cancelled just before the trip, he decided to go on his own and arrived in France on December 3.