Father and son found dead after 'magnet fishing' in Huddersfield canal

'We really don't know what happened. One of them may have fallen in and the other one has tried to help but that is only an assumption,' say police

Divers were called to the canal at Cooper Bridge (MEN Media)

A father and son have died in a canal after going magnet fishing for discarded metal.

The 43-year-old man and his 19-year-old son were found dead by police divers in Huddersfield on Saturday evening after a local noticed their belongings left by the canal.

The men, from Pudsey, Leeds, had gone to a stretch of canal close to the River Calder at 6.15am, West Yorkshire Police have said.

The Huddersfield Examiner has identified the men as Martin Andrews and his son Jack.

Police are unsure exactly how the accident that led to the pair's deaths occurred.

A spokesman said the man's wife told officers they had gone "magnet fishing", which is a hobby involving trawling waterways for metal using a very strong magnet on a rope.

Officers were first alerted at about 11.20am on Saturday by a passer-by who noticed clothing, a mobile phone, a camera and car keys left by the waterside for at least 50 minutes.

The police used the keys to locate a nearby car and this was traced to an address in Pudsey, the force confirmed.

Local media has identified Jack Andrews as the 19-year-old who died with his father Martin MEN Media (MEN Media)

A woman at the address confirmed her husband and son had gone out hours earlier.

The police spokesman said: "Police were called around 11.18am on Saturday June 16 to the canal side, near to Navigation House in Cooper Bridge, Huddersfield after it was believed two men entered the water.

"Officers conducted extensive enquiries to locate the men, and the police underwater search unit attended. The bodies of two men were recovered from the water around 7.20pm.

"They are believed to be a father and son from the Leeds area. The family have been notified.

"There are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances at this time and a file is being prepared for the coroner."

West Yorkshire Police duty inspector Carlton Young told The Sun: "We really don't know what happened. One of them may have fallen in and the other one has tried to help but that is only an assumption.

"We may never know the exact circumstances of what happened."

Tributes have been paid to the two men on social media, although they have not yet been formally named by police.

Earlier this month a Gloucestershire man was reported to have found a safe full of jewellery in the lake in a Cheltenham park after watching a programme about magnet fishing on TV.

Also this month, police were forced to detonate a hand grenade in Birmingham after it was pulled from a canal in the city by a man who was magnet fishing.

Press Association