POLICE divers yesterday scoured a woodside pond in an attempt to find the body of a former miner who disappeared last year.

Three specialist divers from Northumbria Police's search unit spent several hours in the overgrown pond, not far from the village of Sacriston, County Durham, where Edward Donnelly went missing 21 months ago.

Mr Donnelly, 53, known as Eddie, disappeared from the home he shared with his sister in Fynway, Sacriston on March 25, last year. Other than one sighting of him walking beside the A167 at Plawsworth at lunchtime that day, he has not been seen since.

Despite the efforts of police, his family and search and rescue volunteers, there are no clues to his whereabouts.

Following his disappearance, Teesdale and Weardale Search and Rescue spent days scouring areas around Sacriston, using canoeists to search the river and police helicopters to search railway lines. They also issued repeated appeals for sightings of him. But following a recent review of the police's search operation and consultation with search experts, officers decided to re-examine the pond. The three divers, who are based in Jarrow, had to break ice on the pond yesterday before conducting a thorough search of the water.

It was called off in the late afternoon and a police spokesman said nothing had been found.