DUTCH police are searching for a North-East man who fell into a canal near Amsterdam.

The man, who is from Newcastle and has not been named, fell overboard from a party boat full of passengers from the city yesterday as it was travelling on the North Sea Canal, connecting the city with the ferry port at IJmuiden.

A lifejacket was thrown to the man in an attempt to save him but he was unable to be rescued.

It prompted a major massive search operation, involving police and fire service divers and crews from the local harbour rescue team. It lasted until late last night.

On Sunday search teams used sonar in a bid to trace to find the man.

A spokesman for the Dutch police said they would continue searching today and they may use sonar devices to help with this.

He added that the boat's passengers were "young people from Newcastle".