THE family of a man who drowned in a lake have paid tribute to him as a "big friendly giant".

Michael Stratton had been missing since Saturday afternoon, having been last seen near to a bridge in Gosport.

The 27-year-old was reported missing at about 6pm after he was last seen on Clayhall Road at 2pm, near to the Jackie Spencer Bridge known locally as the Black Bridge.

Emergency services carried out a major search in the area with the police helicopter also called out.

However the search had to be called off at about 10pm due to the fading light, and the police were called at 8.30am the following morning by Mr Stratton's family who said they had discovered his body.

Hampshire Constabulary says formal identification has now taken place and a post mortem examination has concluded that Mr Stratton died as a result of drowning.

His death is being treated as non-suspicious but the police are continuing to investigate exactly how he died.

His family have paid tribute to him saying: "Our beautiful son and brother has been taken from us too soon.

“He was a wonderful person who would do anything for anyone. Everyone who knew him loved him.

“We were so lucky to have had you in our lives. Our very own ‘Big Friendly Giant’. Sleep tight darling you are truly loved and missed.

“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank those members of the public who helped us when we found his body on Sunday morning.”

Detective Sergeant Roger Wood said: “This is a very difficult time for the family of Mr Stratton and we are doing all we can to establish exactly what happened that day.

“We know that there were many people out enjoying the sunshine by the bridge on Saturday afternoon and we want to make sure that we have spoken to them all.

“If you haven’t already spoken to us, I would urge you to please come forward as you may have a piece of information that could assist our investigation.

“Even if you don’t think you saw anything out of the ordinary, please get in touch if you were there.”

Anyone with information is asked to call DS Wood on 101, quoting 44160275492, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.