The bodies of five British oil workers killed in an air crash off the coast of Libya are expected to be returned home on Monday.

Ahmed Aoun, chairman of Sirte Oil, the company which leased the plane that crashed into the Mediterranean last Thursday, said the search for the remaining missing passengers had been dogged by storms.

He reported that teams who resumed their work at the crash scene this morning found no sign of the other five people, including one Briton, who remained unaccounted for.

A one-metre-square section of the fuselage was all that had been recovered.

The seven Britons who were among 19 survivors would remain in Libya while replacement travel documents were completed, he added.

Sirte Oil would then fly home any workers who wished to return to their families.

"The weather conditions are still not very favourable as far as the off-shore search is concerned," said Mr Aoun.

"We were unable to go into the sea until 1400 local time and then three units left harbour in a tug and two smaller boats to carry out a surface sweep.

"We have two helicopters involved in the air search. They have gone along the coast and out to sea and nothing has materialised.

"It is now beginning to get dark and we will resume the search in the morning."

Another injured Briton was discharged by doctors on Sunday leaving three in the hospital, he added.

Crash probe

British air accident experts have now arrived in Libya to try to establish why the Belfast-built Shorts SD-360 ditched in the Mediterranean.

The crash killed 22 passengers, including Patrick Cox, of Co Durham; John Morton, 55, of Birkenhead; Thomas McNeilly, 44, of Coatbridge, near Glasgow; Ronald Jarred, 49, of Middlesbrough; and Cheshire-based Roy Parfitt, 54.

The twin-engined plane was carrying 38 passengers, two crew and one flight attendant from Tripoli to an oil refinery at Marsa el Brega when it suffered a catastrophic breakdown.

The Swiss owners of the aircraft, Avisto, said it was lying in water 30 metres deep, and its tail was believed to have become separated from the fuselage, which was lying upside-down.

Mr Aoun said 15 divers on stand-by were unable to leave harbour due to six-metre high waves and winds of 27 knots.