Body of missing pensioner found in canal

Linlithgow pensioner Jack Brown was reported missing to police on Thursday.

Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Archive)

The body of a missing man has been found in the Union Canal, Police Scotland have said.

Linlithgow pensioner Jack Brown was reported missing to police on Thursday, with officers launching a search for the 83-year-old whose welfare they were “growing increasingly concerned for”.

He was last seen alive in Preston Road at about 4.15pm, but just five hours later his body was found in the Union Canal near the West Lothian town.

Formal identification is still to take place, but officers have said they have made his family aware of the discovery.

Police Scotland said they were not treating the death as suspicious, and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.