POLICE are investigating claims British backpacker Gareth Huntley was involved in a fight shortly before he went missing in the Malaysian jungle.

Mr Huntley, 34, disappeared on May 27 when he went on a trek to a waterfall on Tioman Island, off the south-eastern coast of the country's mainland.

A body found last ­Wednesday, close to where he was living, has since been confirmed as Mr Huntley's.

Mohammad Zakaria Ahmad, a senior police official leading the investigation on Tioman Island, said he was investigating reports of a fight involving Mr Huntley shortly before his disappearance. "These are rumours, but we are looking into them", he said.

Mr Huntley's body was found in a pond yards from a kayak storage shed at the Juara Turtle Project where he had been volunteering.