The body was found near the summit of Snowdon

An RAF team made the discovery on Tuesday afternoon, on Fantail Gully below the Crib Goch ridge - two days after Richard Marsh, 33, from Romsey in Hampshire, was reported missing.

Police have informed Mr Marsh's family of the discovery.

Mr Marsh went missing on Sunday after making a call to emergency services on his mobile saying he was stuck on the mountainside.

His body was carried down the mountainside on foot because an RAF rescue helicopter was unable to reach the area where it was discovered.

A diver by trade, Mr Marsh had worked as a safety advisor on action films, including the latest Bond movie, Die Another Day.

PC Rob Owen from North Wales Police, who had been co-ordinating the rescue operation, earlier spoke to Mr Marsh's family.

'Difficult place'

"They describe him as a very strong-minded person, very competent, adventurous, full of life and very much experienced," he said.

We deploy the search teams as best we can and break down the mountain into different areas John Roberts, mountain rescue

"They also said that he was very much well-prepared in whatever he did," he added.

However, despite his professional skills, it was unlikely Mr Marsh was prepared for a night on the mountain, according to John Roberts from the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team.

"He intended to go up the mountain and back quite quickly and we believe he went up along the Pyg Track," he said.

"The rescue teams spoke to him twice on Sunday evening and in the last phone call he said he was sitting on a ledge in a difficult place, looking eastwards and that the cloud had come in," he added.

Rescue teams

The rescue operation has been a massive undertaking deploying two helicopters, search dogs and rescue teams from Llanberis, Ogwen, Aberglaslyn and the National Park.

Fifteen rescue teams had earlier been scouring the mountain, coordinated from the warden's centre in Nant Peris.