TRIBUTES were paid last night to two Yorkshire tourists who fell to their deaths in the French Alps.

Richard Ryan, 27, and Christopher Lockwood, 28, died in the resort of Les Deux Alpes.

Reports from France said the pair fell down a steep valley after leaving a bar late on Wednesday night.

French rescuers said the bodies were found on Friday in the Black Coombe ravine near the Deux Alpes ski station east of Grenoble.

The men appeared to have tried a short cut in an area marked by many warning signs to reach their chalet after leaving a pub at around 2am on Thursday.

Mr Ryan, who worked in supply-chain logistics for a supermarket, lived with his parents in the York area.

Mr Lockwood, a boiler maintenance engineer, lived with his girlfriend in Leeds.

Police have appointed family liaison officers to assist the relatives of Mr Ryan and Mr Lockwood.

French officials say seven people have died after falling off the cliff in 12 years.

In the previous known incident, a young drunken Polish man was rescued by a helicopter in 2007 after clinging to clump of grass on the cliff.

Yesterday, it emerged that the body of 32-year-old British teacher Christopher Hilton has also been found in the French Alps seven months after he disappeared.

Climbers found Mr Hilton’s body, partially covered in ice and snow, on a ledge in the Oisans range of the central French Alps three days ago.

He vanished after going for a hike alone in July and had fallen at least 100 metres.

Mr Hilton, from Stalybridge, Cheshire, was holidaying with his parents at a campsite in Bourg d’Oisans, near Grenoble.