A MAJOR police search is underway in Durham City for a university student who went missing on a night out.

Sopefoluwa Peters, 20, was reported missing by Durham University yesterday (Thursday, October 31) when concerns were raised by fellow students.

Mr Peters, known as ‘Sope’, left his flat in Highgate in the city around 11.30pm on Tuesday (October 29) for a night out with friends. He visited Klute, by Elvet Bridge, and was last seen at about midnight outside the bar when he told his friends he would catch them up in the Jimmy Allen’s bar next door.

However, his friends did not see him at Jimmy Allen’s and he has not responded to texts, e-mails and messages on Facebook they have sent him since. His friends say this is completely out of character and police have classed Mr Peters as high risk.

Mr Peters is in his second year studying economics at Hatfield College at the university. His parents live in Northern Virginia in the USA and are being kept informed of developments.

Police search teams are out in Durham today (Friday, November 1) tracing possible routes that he could have taken on the way back to his flat.

They are also conducting searches along the riverbank to see if there is any trace of Mr Peters and are being assisted by the police helicopter.

Sope Peters is described as black, 5ft 7ins tall, and of average build. He has an American accent. He normally wears glasses but these have been found at his flat, along with his passport. On Tuesday night he was wearing a blue jumper over a black shirt and light green trousers.

Inspector Paul Anderson said: “We are very concerned for Sope as there has been no trace of him since Tuesday night. “He hasn’t responded to any attempts to contact him and his phone has not been traced.

“If anyone has seen him since then, or if they say a young man matching his description in Durham on Tuesday night I would ask them to contact us as soon as possible on 101.”

Michael Gilmore, Academic Registrar at Durham University, said: “We are very concerned to hear that Sope Peters, a 2nd year Economics student at Hatfield College, has been reported missing and we are liaising with police in an effort to trace him.

“We would appeal for anyone with information about Sope’s whereabouts to contact the police on 101”.

Teesdale and Weardale Search & Mountain Rescue Team have been out most of today, assisting the police searching for a missing student in Durham City.

Deputy team leader Steve Owers said: “We concentrated our search on the River Wear which flows through the city.

“We deployed eight of our team members in two search groups to search the river banks over a distance of about 1.5 miles.

“We also used three of our specialist canoe group to search about two miles of the river."