Couple find body floating in Grand Union canal while on a DATE in Ladbroke Grove

A couple were on a date by the Grand Union canal off Harrow Road when a panicked passer-by shouted about a body floating in the water.

Tom*, 40, saw the back and shoulders of a man floating face down in the canal while having a coffee with his girlfriend at 10am on Tuesday morning (November 13).

They'd popped to Ladbroke Grove Sainsbury's and were relaxing on a bench when there was a sudden commotion.

Rushing to help the passer-by by the Half Penny Steps, who also lives in a boat on the canal, he took a closer look and made out part of an ear in the water.

Tom told the lady to call police right away.

“Me and my girlfriend had just come from the doctors, we went to Sainsbury’s and sat down for a coffee at a bench by the canal,” he said.

“The lady was really shocked, she really felt it. We stayed with the lady and assured her we are there.

“She lives in a boat on the canal so you can understand how scared she was.”

Tom said a towing worker helped to keep the body from moving with his equipment – and claimed the man said this was the second body he has seen the canal.

Worried about what his girlfriend and the lady might see, Tom focused more on assuring them and keeping them from looking at the body.

Police closed a part of Harrow Road and pulled out the body of a man at 10.20am. His death is currently unexplained.

Tom, who has lived in the area for nearly all of his life and walks by the canal almost daily, says the “lack of safety” is dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Just the other week I saw a woman hit by a rider with no lights,” he said.

“I mean the lack of security there and lighting, it is so unsafe and there are riders riding without lights.

“If you fall in it can be very cold especially as nights close in.”

*Name has been changed to protect anonymity.

Find out more about the incident in our live blog here.