Tom Voyces wife, Anna, has shared a heartfelt tribute after the body of the former England rugby international was found on Thursday.

The 43-year-old went missing after attempting to drive across a river in Northumberland last Saturday.

Police have said that Voyce was trying to cross Abberwick Ford, approximately three miles from Alnwick, when his Toyota Hilux was pulled along with the current of the River Aln during Storm Darragh.

Absolutely devastated and heartbroken doesnt even describe how we feel, said Anna.

My main focus now is our son Oscar having done what he asked, find Daddy.

All of Toms family were involved in the search. I will be forever grateful to my brothers Hugh and Jamie, Aidan Philipson and Garry Whitfield for coordinating the search party working alongside the police teams.

Tom would be blown away by the amount of people that were out there helping. We have all been overwhelmed by the support of friends, many travelling from far afield to help with the search.

We are just so lucky to live in such a special community that pulled together to find Tom.

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Chief Superintendent Helena Barron, of Northumbria Police, said: This is an extremely sad development and our thoughts very much continue to be with Toms loved ones.

I would like to thank all of our officers, partners and volunteers for their assistance throughout the searches which have been conducted in very challenging circumstances.

We would continue to ask that people respect the familys privacy at this time.

Officers recovered the car but said in an earlier statement: Sadly Tom is yet to be found. It is believed in his attempts to escape he has been swept away and tragically died.

Storm Darragh battered the UK over the weekend and flood warnings were issued in several parts of the country.

Mr Voyce, from Cornwall, played six times for England between 2001 and 2006.

He spent the majority of his professional career at London Wasps while also playing for Bath, Gloucester and London Welsh.

Gloucester Rugby is desperately sad to hear the distressing news regarding our former player and friend, Tom Voyce, one of his former clubs said.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Toms family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.

Mr Voyce retired in 2013 and has been living in Alnwick for the past four years.

A statement from the police on Tuesday read: We are searching for a man believed to have gone into the River Aln near Alnwick.

Extensive enquiries have been ongoing since we received a report on Sunday that former England rugby international player Tom Voyce, 43, had not returned home after being out with friends the previous evening.

At this time, it is suspected Tom has attempted to cross Abberwick Ford in his car which has then been pulled along with the current of the river.

Officers have since recovered his car, but sadly Tom is yet to be found. It is believed in his attempts to escape he has been swept away and tragically died.

We attended with our Swift Water Team and provided portable lighting units to assist the search. 

Our teams also secured the car to the bankside. NFRS has since been stood down by the police. 

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the missing person at this incredibly difficult time.

Chief Superintendent Barron added at the time: This is an extremely tragic incident, and our thoughts are very much with Toms loved ones at this time.

Our officers continue to support his family and we would ask that their privacy is respected.

Extensive inquiries have been ongoing since concerns were raised for Tom, including deploying specialist teams to search for him.

Our searches continue but we are dealing with very challenging circumstances in trying to recover Tom.

This is down to the conditions, including the river flow and the level being significantly heightened due to the exceptionally heavy rain we experienced over the weekend.

Sadly, we can therefore not provide any timescales around this.

We would like to thank our colleagues from Mountain Rescue for their continued support and all those who have helped with the searches.

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