The man from Belfast, whose name has yet to be released, left home around 5pm to cycle along the Towpath from Belfast to Lisburn.

When he had not returned home by the early hours of Wednesday morning his worried wife contacted police. As part of the search for the man the police checked local car parks in a bid to find him

It is not known how the cyclist had died but one possibility, say police, is that it his bicycle may have slipped off the windy path and into the river.

A person out walking on the towpath discovered the body in the river around 7.22pm and alerted the police.

Officers say they are waiting for the results of a postmortem.
In the meantime they are keen to hear from anyone who may have been walking along the towpath on Tuesday afternoon or evening.

"As part of our investigatiion we would appeal for witnesses or to anyone who may have seen the cyclist going along the towpath," a spokesperson said.

The Lagan Towpath is a local popular route used by walkers and cyclists from Belfast to Lisburn..