A PENSIONER who died after falling into a shallow duck pond yards from his holiday home was last night named as George Beattie.

The body of the 69-year-old was found by police at Greenlake Caravan Park, in Crimdon, near Peterlee, east Durham, in the early hours of yesterday.

Officers were called by Mr Beattie's family, who feared he had stumbled or slipped into the park's duck pond.

When officers arrived, it took just a few minutes to find Mr Beattie, who lives most of the year at the park and was originally from Newcastle.

After being pulled from 2ft-deep water, officers found he was not breathing. He was taken by ambulance to the University Hospital of Hartlepool at 2.30am, where attempts to revive him failed and he was declared dead.

Police, who have ruled out any suspicious circumstances surrounding the tragedy, have established that Mr Beattie spent most of the evening in the pub at the holiday park, which is only 20 metres from his caravan.

A spokesman for Durham Police said last night: "He had been out with members of his family drinking in the camp site pub.

"He then went back to his mobile home, 20 metres away for a few minutes, before going back out again.

"His family heard the ducks making a commotion and when he failed to return to the caravan, they raised the alarm."

The scene of the tragedy was cordoned off for most of yesterday to allow crime scene investigators to carry out a search.

Mr Beattie's death caused shock among other residents and holidaymakers on the site.

A neighbour said Mr Beattie was well known on the site and would be missed.

Last night, a police spokesman said that a post- mortem examination was being carried out to establish the cause of death.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0191-3864222.