AN extensive search for a man missing for almost a week has been called off by police.

Ian Simpkin, 36, from Wath, near Ripon, has not been seen since Sunday when he left home on foot at 10am.

Police officers, RAF search and rescue teams, mountain rescue and local volunteers have all been involved in the search, as concern grew for Mr Simpkin in the freezing conditions.

A specialist underwater team from West Yorkshire Police was also called into to search sections of the River Ure for two days.

Inspector Steve Breen from North Yorkshire Police said that, although the search had been called off, the investigation would continue.

"We've come to the point where it's pure guess work and the question is where do you stop?" he said.

"We could search the whole of North Yorkshire, the whole of the north of England and beyond but without any clear information to do so it's highly expensive, highly resource-intensive and also not guaranteed to bring us any results.

"So we've focused on the priority areas we think Ian may have been in and we have not turned anything up as yet and there's now come a point where it's not practical to continue."

Mr Simpkin, who works at a local scrapyard and is a part-time gamekeeper, is described as 5ft 10in, stocky, with short blond hair and blue eyes.

It is believed he was wearing a green fleece top, blue jeans, a dark woolly hat and green Wellington boots when he went missing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0845-60-60-247.