A HOLIDAYMAKER who found a dead body floating in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal has said she has been unable to sleep since making the gruesome discovery.

Andrea Renwick was on a barge holiday in East Lancashire with family and friends when she saw the man in the water near Blackburn Road, Oswaldtwistle.

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He has since been identified by police as a 32-year-old man from East Africa.

A Home Office post-mortem examination has been carried out but the cause of death could not be ascertained, police said.

However, police said they were satisfied at this stage that there was no third party involvement in the man's death Andrea, from a village near Stanley, in County Durham, said she had been prescribed diazepam by her doctor to help her cope with the trauma of seeing the body.

The 50-year-old, who was travelling with her son Jamie Kilkenny, his friend Niall Plunkett, her mum Marjorie Renwick and her great nephew TJ Duffy, seven, said: “It has been pretty horrific.

“I saw the body and it was lying bang in the middle of the canal. I then heard my son, who was at the back steering, shouting.

“He just put the brakes straight on and the boat drifted a little bit down the canal.

“We reversed to have a closer look and at first, it looked like a mannequin and I hoped it was.

“But I realised it was not. I just felt sick to the core.”

Andrea called the police and when they arrived, the holidaymakers were told they could not get back onto the barge until later that day.

The civil servant said she felt she and the other passengers should be offered counselling to help them get over the ordeal.

She also said she hoped the man’s family could find out what had happened to him as soon as possible.

She said: “I hope this lad can be identified soon and returned to his family.

“I know there cannot be a happy outcome, but at least the family will shortly know where their loved one is.”

Andrea also thanked the staff and locals at the Hare and Hounds pub.

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said officers were working to find the man’s family.

She said: “Police have identified the man as a 32-year-old foreign national from East Africa.”

Further tests, including toxicology, will be carried out to find the cause of death.