A WIFE whose husband of 48 years was found dead in a river has paid a loving tribute to him.

Vera Halstead, of Parker Street, Harle Syke, said she believed her 78-year-old husband David had slipped and fallen into the River Don after he went for a walk on Tuesday afternoon.

Mrs Halstead became alarmed when he failed to return home by mid-afternoon after she went out to the shops.

She said: "It was out of character for him not to return home for his dinner and we normally know where the other is.

"He must have gone for a walk down the river behind Granville Street.

"He was a good walker who knew the country-side around here like the back of his hand.

"It was very slippy and it had rained a lot and I believe he slipped. His body was found seven metres further down."

Police said they were not treating the death of the father-of-two as suspicious.

His body was discovered in the river close to a bridge near Granville Street, in Harle Syke. He was found at 4.30pm.

Mr Halstead, who was born and brought up in Burnley and worked as a methods engineer until he retired at 55, loved playing golf at Nelson Golf Club, where his son Shaun works as manager.

The mother-of-two said Mr Halstead had been getting treatment for the last few months for an allergy.

But she said: "Apart from that he was as fit as a fiddle and had been his whole life.

"He was a wonderful happy-go-lucky person who I will miss so much.

"It's going to be hard without him and will take some getting used to. He was the most important person in my life."

Mr Halstead leaves a nine-year-old grandson, Mathew, and two sons Shaun, 44 and Kieron, 40.

The widow said: "Mathew, our grandson, is so upset.

"He rang me up yesterday to say 'I love you grandma. I am so sorry'.

"He was close to his grandfather and was learning to play golf like his father and grandad."