London hiker is found dead in Lake District

A walking enthusiast from London has died after apparently falling into a river in the Lake District.

Alison Boyce, 56, from Highgate, had arrived in Cumbria that morning to start her hiking holiday.

A walker spotted a body in the swollen River Rothay near the village of Grasmere in Ambleside, and raised the alarm.

Police, firefighters and mountain rescue teams tried to recover the body, but it was washed up on a private island in the centre of the village 90 minutes later.

Ms Boyce had arrived by train from Euston on Monday last week, checked into a guesthouse in Grasmere and set off for a walk. She was last seen heading along a popular hiking route, and it is thought she may have lost her footing, fallen into the river and been unable to save herself.

She worked in London as executive assistant to the executive director and director of chaplaincy at The Mission to Seafarers, a Christian agency which supports sailors across the world.

The agency said: "Alison was a much-liked and well-respected member of the team, appreciated for her gentleness and professionalism, and we will all miss her greatly."

Her colleague, Tessa Perfect, said Ms Boyce loved walking in the Lake District and added that perhaps the only fitting aspect to the tragedy was that she died in a place she loved.

The Rev Tom Heffer, secretary general of the mission, asked friends and colleagues to pray for Ms Boyce, her parents Paul and Lorna and brothers Patrick and Aiden.

Tributes have been paid to her by other professionals and organisations across the maritime industry.

The International Christian Maritime Association put a statement on its website remembering a "patient and gentle lady". It read: "We have been shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic death of Alison Boyce.

"A patient and gentle lady, she was well-known to staff of the ICMA secretariat who always found her helpful and highly professional."

Cumbria police are still trying to establish exactly what happened to Ms Boyce, and are asking tourists who were in the area and may have seen her to call South Cumbria CID on 0845 330 0247.