TRIBUTES have been paid to a former SAS soldier who went missing last week.

A community search effort was launched in Withington for Michael Worsley who served with the elite regiment in the 1970s.

He disappeared last Friday and people from across the county joined the search party which was brought to an end on Tuesday evening when a body was found near his home.

Dozens of friends and former colleagues have shared their tributes to a “genuinely lovely bloke” who served in Oman and The Yemen – and was known for his brown parachute jumpsuit and a love of Pot Noodles and cold baked beans.

Kiegan Vallely, whose father was also in the SAS, said: “He was a great soldier and one of my father's best friends. They served together in the regiment and he did a touching eulogy at my father's funeral.

"Thanks for the chats and being a great friend to my mother all these years. My condolences go out to his lovely wife and kids. RIP 'Wurzle'."

Garth Lawson, a friend of Mr Worsley’s from the Cross Keys Inn, said: “He was a quietly spoken gentleman.”

Mr Worsley is survived by his wife Claire and their children Nick,Tom, Pippa, Becca and Katherine.