A well-known man has been found dead in a freezing cold mid Essex canal.

Folk music-loving Rodney Wright, 59, was dragged from the water from underneath the boat in which he lived at Heybridge Basin.

Mr Wright, a diabetic, had been reported missing on Friday night and a police search of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation canal was mounted with local people helping.

Neighbour and friend Les Wilkins found Mr Wright in the water and dragged him out at about 1am on Saturday.

He was taken to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, by ambulance and was certified dead. A post mortem examination is to be carried out today.

He had lived on the yacht called Content for more than 30 years and was well-known by local people as the "cycling bagpiper" and South African Tim, after his foreign roots.

Friends of Mr Wright, who was not married, said his diabetes was severe and emergency medical help had been needed previously for his condition.

His sister Sandy Jones, of Surrey, said he was a wonderful brother who would be greatly missed.

And friend Sara Watkins said it was unthinkable that he was gone.

"He was so full of life - the last of the great eccentrics," she said.

The bagpipe player covered almost the whole of Essex on his bike, performing regularly across the county.

The funeral is due to take place on Monday at 11.45am in the chapel in Heybridge Basin.

Rodney Wright - known as South African Tim, of Heybridge Basin, was found in canal.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.