Missing sailor Mark Brennan: Body found on yacht

Mark Brennan's boat was picked up by the Jamaican coastguard and brought to Port Antonio

A body has been found on a yacht belonging to a British sailor reported missing in the Caribbean.

Mark Brennan, from South Shields, was last seen leaving a marina in Grenada on 6 December, according to maritime website Boatwatch.

His boat had "no radio or cellular telephone" and had lost its dinghy while crossing the Atlantic, it said.

Boatwatch raised the alarm and the 42-year-old was reported missing to Northumbria Police on 21 December.

The force said it had been "made aware that authorities in Jamaica have recovered a body on a boat".

"A formal identification process is ongoing but it is suspected that the body is that of the South Shields man," a spokesperson said.

Authorities in Jamaica are trying to establish how he died.

Boatwatch, which is run by volunteers who help track missing boats, said Mr Brennan arrived in Grenada from Barbados on 2 December.

Another sailor raised concerns after seeing Mr Brennan leave the marina in the dark four days later.

The boat, Avrio, was spotted 71 nautical miles from the Jamaican coast and brought to Port Antonio by the country's coastguard.