THE body of missing Durham University student Euan Coulthard was found by a professional diver who travelled from Scotland to bring closure to the family, it has emerged.

Trevor Bankhead said he discovered the body within seconds of entering the River Wear just yards from where the 19-year-old law student was last seen on Framwellgate Bridge.

The diver said he knew immediately it was the student, telling the body underwater "I've come to take you home my friend."

Mr Bankhead works as a commercial shellfish diver and travelled more than 170 miles from the Western Isles to Durham to look for the missing student after speaking to his brother Gary, a firefighter who was involved in the search.

Mr Bankhead, from Chester-le-Street, has scuba dived in the River Wear more than 500 times.

He said: "Nobody knows that river like me and my brother - I know the riverbed like the back of my hand and I knew that I had to do something to help bring closure for the boy's mother.

"I knew that the body would either be by the weir or in the debris-field where people have thrown things from the bridge - there's shopping trolleys, dustbins, trees, placards allsorts. I knew he wouldn't have gone past the weir.

"I found him within 30 seconds of being in the water as I was making my way down to the weir. The water was about two metres deep. I knew it was him. We had a moment together - I said to him 'I've come to take you home my friend'."

The student went missing on Wednesday, January 14.

A major search was launched involving dozens of police officers, firefighters and mountain rescue experts.

However, it is understood Mr Bankhead was the first diver to enter the water to search for the body.

The diver said he had been checking the visibility regularly with his brother, and Friday was the first day when the water was clear enough to conduct a search.

Council officials and police chiefs have agreed to explore river safety measures on the Wear following the death of Mr Coultgard and two other students.

Mr Bankhead, 45, is an Army veteran who learnt to dive while serving with the 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.

He and his brother revealed in 2009 how they had recovered a haul of precious artefacts from the River Wear, including some items belonging to former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey.