River levels delay priest search

Father Welsford had not been seen for three weeks

Police are waiting to continue their search for a retired Catholic priest who disappeared after being questioned in connection with alleged child abuse.

Officers plan to search for Father William Welsford - who has been missing since December 2 - when the swollen levels of the river Severn recede.

The River Severn levels are swollen

The priest's Ford transit van was found abandoned in Over near the River Severn in Gloucestershire before Christmas.

The 69-year-old - originally from Milford Haven - had been interviewed over an on-going investigation into abuse at children's homes in the Manchester area.

"Greater Manchester Police have confirmed that Father Welsford was interviewed by officers in connection with Operation Cleopatra on November 21 relating to allegations from the mid-1970s," said a spokesman for Gloucester Police.

"Operation Cleopatra is a joint police and social services' historic child abuse investigation.

"The questioning followed allegations of abuse at All Saints Home in Barton, Trafford in the mid-70s."

Franciscan order

Father Welsford - who retired two months ago due to ill health - had been released on bail and had been due to report to Milford Haven Police Station in the new year.

Provost David Bottrill, the vicar general of Menevia in south Wales, said Father Welsford initially joined the Franciscan order in south Wales in the 1960s before moving to the secular priesthood.

He was with the Diocese of Menevia for around three years and then moved to Carmarthen and then Presteigne, in Powys, where he worked for the past eight years before retiring two months ago.