Mr Coakley, 61, was one of five Britons on board the A330 Airbus Flight 447 which vanished en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1 with 228 passengers on board.

Mr Coakley's boarding card and laptop had already been found by accident investigators.

The Sandsend father-of-three was heading home after completing a four-week stint on an oil project in Brazil.

Mr Coakley's widow, Patricia, said she was thankful that his body had been found.

She also praised the work of local police officers who have being helping the family since the crash.

She told the Evening News: "Our police liaison officer, who has been a great help to us, came to the house to inform us that Art's body had been found. It has been very hard for the family and now at least now we know, his family, that he is coming home.

"We will have a grave to visit and say our goodbyes to him properly and not have to think about him alone, lost at sea."

The body is expected to be flown to Durham Tees Valley Airport.

Mrs Coakley added that no funeral arrangements were yet being made.

Brazilian investigators have called off the search for bodies from the crash, meaning some victims' remains may never be found.

Hope of finding the plane's black box flight recorders has almost disappeared.