HOPES that Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup clash would lead police to a missing fan have been dashed.

A team of officers from Durham have spent the week in Athens looking for Darlington man Melvyn Gamblin who vanished after travelling to Greece to watch the Olympics.

They had hoped Mr Gamblin would turn up to watch his favourite team - Middlesbrough - play the Greek side Egaleo, in Athens, on Thursday night.

Members of Mr Gamblin's family also flew out for the match in the hope of finding him. There was a heavy police presence at the match and fans were urged to keep a look out for Mr Gamblin.

The 37-year-old has been missing since failing to board his plane home from Greece on September 3, but his family and police had pinned hopes on him attending this week's match.

Darlington's Detective Chief Inspector Ted Edgar and Detective Sergeant Dave Wilkes, who flew out to Athens last week and attended the game, returned home yesterday no closer to tracking him down.

"We had hoped Middlesbrough fan Mr Gamblin would be at the team's match against Egaleo in Greece on Thursday but it seems it was not to be," said a police spokesman.

"However, the game gave us the opportunity to further highlight his disappearance and circulate his photograph, which can only be a good thing as the search for him continues."

The police will carry on working closely with the Greek Authorities and Interpol to attempt to unravel the mystery behind Mr Gamblin's disappearance.

The keen sports fan, who suffers from ME, had flown out to Athens for the Olympic Games in August and kept regular contact with family and friends back at home via text message.

He was last seen seven weeks ago by staff at the hotel where he was staying.

The only clue to his whereabouts is a photograph showing him in Athens that was posted to his home address.

Police have already followed a number of lines of enquiries and embarked on a thorough investigation, searching mainland Greece as well as some outlying islands.