POLICE are investigating the death of a 43-year-old Iraqi national whose body was found at the weekend.

The alarm was raised on Saturday by a group of anglers who spotted the man's body in the River Tyne, floating close to the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena.

It was recovered outside the Pitcher and Piano pub, on the Quayside, shortly after 4.30pm.

A police spokesman said the man, who worked as a waiter at a city centre restaurant, had last been seen an hour earlier as he left for work from his home in the Cruddas Park area of the city.

His death is not being treated as suspicious.

The man's name is not being be released until his relatives have been informed.