The man, named in reports as Louis Robertson, 26, from Glasgow, but thought to come originally from Aberdeen, was discovered in a stream at the La Plagne resort in the Alps today.

He is said to have arrived at the resort on Sunday with two friends for a week's holiday.

He left one bar and went missing on his way to another, it was reported.

"It appears he wanted to take a short cut to save time but he wasn't able to find his way again," a resort official was quoted in Le Parisien as saying.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are aware of the death of a British national in France. We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time."