POLICE have identified the fifth person to have been found death in a city's rivers this year.

The body of Leslie Bell, 63, of Monkgate, in York city centre was spotted in the River Foss by a passer-by at noon on Tuesday (November 18).

The area was closed for two hours as police, paramedics and firefighters worked to recover the body.

A post-mortem examination has been completed and the inquest is expected to open next week.

Police inquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding Mr Bell’s death remain ongoing.

It remains unclear how Mr Bell ended up in the river, but police say there is no evidence to suggest the death was suspicious.

His body was discovered a day after police reissued an appeal for people to be careful when walking beside rivers in the city.

Last Saturday (November 15) a man leapt into the River Ouse and was treated in hospital for hyperthermia after a dramatic rescue.

Emergency services were alerted by shocked onlookers in York city centre after the fully-clothed 35-year-old was spotted trying to swim in the swollen River Ouse.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said the man, who had been drinking, swam from Museum Street towards Lendal Bridge, and was eventually pulled from the water by a North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service crew.

Ben Clarkson, 22, was found in the Foss earlier this year, three weeks after going missing following a night out with friends.