THE family of a fisherman were yesterday informed that an all-day search had found no trace of the father-of-two.

Cleveland Police last night named the the missing man as Edward Frank Bissell.

Twenty-five hours after his his boat, the 28ft coble Bonny-Lass, left harbour on Wednesday, it was found adrift in open sea, 14 miles east of Hartlepool.

There was no trace of its 64-year-old owner, an experienced, part-time fisherman.

Five lifeboats and two RAF helicopters were involved in searching the North Sea for the grandfather-of-two.

They were joined by three coastguard teams who searched the shoreline at Seaham, Hartlepool and Redcar.

The Bonny-Lass left Hartlepool dock at 11.05am on Wednesday. It was found by the Teesmouth lifeboat at 12.30pm yesterday. Its engines were still running but there was no one on board. The lifeboat towed the boat into Hartlepool Fish Quay as dusk fell yesterday.

It is understood Mr Bissell was in the habit of fishing immediately off the Hartlepool shore and had owned other boats before the Bonny-Lass.

Last night, neighbours paid tribute to the widower, whose wife died some years ago following a heart attack.

With tears streaming down her face, Susan Corbett, Mr Bissell's neighbour for 23 years, said: "He was a very friendly, very pleasant man who would help anyone."

Pauline Webb, another neighbour, in Stockton Road, Hartlepool, said: "He was a nice, very friendly man. It's a terrible tragedy."