Detective boosts hunt for missing man

Ian Gilbert was best man and organised the Ostend trip

A British detective has been sent to Belgium to help co-ordinate the search for a man who disappeared on a stag night.

It is feared 25-year-old Ian Gilbert, from East Sussex, may have drowned or been mugged on his way back to his hotel in Ostend on Saturday.

Mr Gilbert, a father-of-two from Crowborough, was the best man and had organised the trip for the 25-strong stag party.

On Tuesday in a TV appeal his wife asked him to contact her: "Let us know you are safe."

I love him dearly, we were very happily married

Charlotte Gilbert

Sussex Police have appointed a family liaison officer to counsel Mr Gilbert's distraught wife Charlotte and her two children.

A police spokesman said: "The fact that we are sending a detective to Belgium shows how seriously we are taking Mr Gilbert's disappearance."

Speaking about her husband's disappearance, Mrs Gilbert said: "Ian loves me dearly and I love him dearly, we were very happily married."

She made a direct appeal for husband to come home: "We all love you lots over here.

Out of character

"Please contact us or come home or let us know you are safe."

The stag party, all members of Crowborough Rugby Club, saw Mr Gilbert leave a bar at in the early hours for the walk back to the hotel along a route near the seafront.

His friends say it is totally out of character for Mr Gilbert to disappear without notice.

At first they thought he may have fallen asleep on the way back to the hotel but raised the alarm when he failed to appear by the following lunchtime.

Two of Mr Gilbert's friends remained in Ostend to hand out missing person posters.