A FORMER Rastrick man has been found dead at the foot of cliffs in Whitby.

Adam Sykes had been living in the popular Yorkshire coastal resort and his body was found by a dog walker at 8am on Sunday.

Mr Sykes, 29, used to be a self-employed laminate floor layer in Huddersfield and lived on Thornhill Lane in Rastrick. He was a former Rastrick High pupil and had been working as a chef in more recent times.

He was living on East Terrace in Whitby with his mother, Maureen Craven, and stepfather Brian.

His friend, Adam Fox from Milnsbridge, said: “Adam was one of the best guys you could meet. He was always happy with a smile on his face and was really sociable with a lot of friends.

“He loved music and worked his way round several festivals this summer. He would do some roadying and tidying up the sites. He was into indie and then political hip hop.

“In more recent times Adam became more spiritual.”

He had been to The Orange Tree retreat near Pickering in North Yorkshire which practices therapeutic yoga.

Police say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

On the Whitby Gazette website Adam’s older sister, Emma, thanked people for the kind messages they had written and sent.

She said: “To Adam, my daft little brother who I loved dearly.

“I know this comes way too late but I am so very sorry I didn’t do more for you, see you more, talk to you more, particularly in this last couple of years when you’d lost your way.

“I’m sorry that you’ll never meet your tiny niece. I’ll tell her stories of you when she’s older. I know she would have loved her wacky, funny, cool, kind uncle.”

Mr Sykes was the second body discovered by dog walker Irene Lyth on the beach in Whitby in the last four years.

Mrs Lyth said: “I walk there every morning and look among the rocks for balls for the dog.

“I thought I would have a sit down but my dog, Rio, went straight to the rocks and I thought ‘that’s a body.’

“I didn’t get close enough but I knew in my own mind it was.

“I walked a bit and thought ‘yes it is’ and then my friend Celia King came and said it was. I never looked at it but she said he was only a young boy.

“I just rang 999. I was in a bit of a panic but Celia was very calm and sat with him until the police came.”

Police covered the body with a foil sheet while the slipway to the beach and the Battery Parade were cordoned off.

Mrs Lyth and Mrs King found the body of an elderly woman from York on the beach about four years ago.

Mrs Lyth said: “It has happened to us once before and you think it won’t happen again.”

An inquest has been opened and adjourned and a full hearing into the circumstances surrounding Mr Sykes’ death will be held at a later date.

The funeral will take place at Scarborough Crematorium on Tuesday at 2.40pm.