Police searching for a 12-year-old British boy missing on a French island have found a body, it was reported on Thursday evening.
The discovery is believed to have been made on the island of Porquerolles, where Pierre Barnes, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, vanished after going for a bike ride on Saturday.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, his father, Stephen Barnes, 57, said he was confident the body would prove to be that of his missing son.
He told the paper: "I have been informed by the police that they have found a body on the island.
"I will go and identify it within the next two hours but I have no doubt it is Pierre."
The 12-year-old went missing last Saturday after he was caught up in a severe storm during a bike ride on the island near Toulon on the Mediterranean coast.
After a search involving more than 150 local volunteers alongside French emergency services, Mr Barnes admitted he believed his son to be dead.
The 57-year-old property developer from Grantham, Lincolnshire, said at a press conference yesterday that his family could only hope Pierre's body was recovered.
He went missing just hours after arriving on the island for a half-term holiday with his family.
A French news agency reported that a boy's body was found by bathers in the water south of Porquerolles at around 5pm.
Toulon prosecutor Xavier Tarabeux told Agence France Presse (AFP): "The body matches that of the young boy who went missing on Saturday."
He said the physical appearance matched as well as the clothes.
The agency reported that the body was found by Langoustier bay to the south of the island, not far from where Pierre's bike was discovered.
It said the fire and rescue service have been dispatched to recover the body.
Mr Tarabeux told the agency that a post mortem examination would take place as soon as possible.