A BODY believed to be firefighter Anthony Knott has been found.

Anthony, 33, who works for London Fire Brigade, vanished at around 7.40pm on Friday, December 20.

Police have today confirmed a body believed to be that of Mr Knott, who is also a a semi-professional footballer for Orpington FC, was found in the River Ouse at Newhaven.

A member of the public alerted police at 9.41am to the body at Denton Island.

The Argus:

Anthony was with a group of friends at The Lamb pub in Fisher Street, Lewes, when he left alone about 7.16pm.

CCTV stills showed the dad-of-four walking outside while dressed in a jumper, jeans and dark jacket.

His family confirmed a sighting of him walking up Market Street – back towards The Lamb – at 7.41pm.

It was 20 minutes after his phone was switched off, according to the time captured on the CCTV image.

Specialist teams carried out extensive searches of the area surrounding the pub and the Pells Pool area, which had been severely affected by flood water in the days before Anthony went missing.

The Argus:

Detective Inspector Mark Rosser said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Anthony at this difficult time. We too are saddened by this update and would ask the public and media to respect the families’ privacy at this time.

“We would like to thank the public for their tremendous support with our investigation into the disappearance of Anthony, along with our partner agencies and volunteers who assisted with the search.”

His distraught fiancee Lucy Otto was among dozens who joined the search for him.

In one of her heartbreaking online updates, Lucy wrote: "I’m coming to search for you again today, I won’t rest until I know what’s happened to you."