Local authorities on the Greek island have Symi said on Sunday that they had found the dead body of missing British television presenter Michael Mosley.

Over 20 firefighters and police officers had been searching on land while coast guard units scoured the rocky waters around the island.

What we know so far

"People on a boat saw a body close to the rocky coast," said Petros Vassilakis, police chief for the southern Aegean region, adding that officers had been dispatched to identify the body.

Mosley, 67, had been missing since Wednesday after he went for a walk alone along a coastal path in searing heat approaching 40 degrees Celsius (103 degrees Fahrenheit). His wife Clare Bailey alerted police when he failed to return.

Greece's ERT public television channel reported that the body was the 67-year-old Mosley, which has since been confirmed by Symi's deputy mayor.

"It is certainly him," Nikitas Grillis told the Reuters news agency. "The mayor of the island and an ERT reporter were filming the area of Agia Marina, when they spotted the body."

Mosley is a health journalist who has appeared on UK television shows such "The One Show" and "This Morning", and who has directed documentaries. Outside the United Kingdom, he is known for his books on dieting.

mf/rc (Reuters, AFP)