Nick Fisher missing: Body found in search for Bafta-winning TV writer

TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall had appealed for help in finding his friend

Mr Fisher was best known for Channel 4’s ‘Screaming Reels’ (Dorset Police )

Police have found a body in the search for a missing writer and presenter who was a friend of celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Nick Fisher, whose books included Sea Fishing - River Cottage Handbook, co-written with the TV cook, had last been seen in his home village of Hooke in west Dorset on Tuesday.

Following searches of the area, police said they had found a body in Dorchester. A Dorset Police spokesman said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall previously appealed for help in finding his “very dearest friend”.

After news of his death was confirmed, the TV chef tweeted: “I am so very sad to say that our dearest friend Nick Fisher has passed away.

“He was always full of insight and compassion, which is what made him such a great writer and broadcaster, as well as a brilliant friend.

“His lovely family and his many friends are missing him terribly. Nick was the best person to spend time with, especially on a boat.

“We talked about fishing endlessly, but we also talked about life, a subject on which Nick was an expert because he had lived so much of it.

“I can’t believe it’s over, but many wonderful memories live on.”

Mr Fisher, who won a Bafta award for creating the ITV children’s drama The Giblet Boys, also wrote episodes of EastEnders, Casualty, New Tricks, and Holby City.

Having started out as a magazine agony uncle in the 1980s, he presented on several programmes including ITV talk show Dear Nick and BBC 5 Live radio programme Dirty Tackle.

He was best known for Channel 4’s Screaming Reels. He was also a guest presenter on River Cottage, and co-wrote The River Cottage Fish Book with Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall. He also once wrote a piece for The Independent.

Confirming his death, a police spokesman said: “Officers carrying out inquiries to locate a missing man from west Dorset have very sadly located a body.

“Nick Fisher, aged 63, was last seen in Hooke during the afternoon of Tuesday November 15.

“Following extensive inquiries and searches by officers, assisted by Dorset Search and Rescue (DorSAR), the body of a man was sadly located in Dorchester during the morning of Thursday November 17.

“While formal identification has not yet taken place, the body is believed to be that of Nick Fisher and his family has been informed.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and HM coroner has been notified.

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Nick at this extremely difficult time.”

Additional reporting by PA