TRIBUTES have been paid to a Primrose Hill man whose body was found in the Regent's Canal near Camden Lock exactly a week after he went missing. Friends and relatives of the popular 30-year-old John Regan, of Chalcot Road, flooded social networking websit

TRIBUTES have been paid to a Primrose Hill man whose body was found in the Regent's Canal near Camden Lock exactly a week after he went missing.

Friends and relatives of the popular 30-year-old John Regan, of Chalcot Road, flooded social networking website Facebook this week.

An intensive search was launched after Mr Regan went missing on the evening of November 18 after leaving a bar on Chalk Farm Road. CCTV captured him heading through Camden market towards the canal.

Last Thursday his body was pulled out of the water near Camden West Quay after being spotted by police officers on patrol. How his life came to such a tragic end is still a mystery.

In a statement Mr Regan's mother Jayne, his brother Paul and two sisters Jen and Janet said: "John's body was recovered in the early hours of November 26 in the canal where he was last seen. This was a tragic accident and John will be greatly missed by family and friends.

"We would like to thank everyone for their overwhelming support over the last week."

The family have requested that tributes are left in places where Mr Regan was at his happiest rather than at the spot where his body was found.

Mr Regan, an avid Manchester United fan and keen poker player worked as a sports analyst for the firm Star Lizard in Camden Town.

He will be sorely missed by those who knew him both in London and in his hometown of Matlock in Derbyshire.

Virgil Andrew, 30, Mr Regan's friend and flat mate said: "He was always full of beans and loved banter. He was extremely quick-witted and intelligent. He was so young and had everything going for him.