Police identify underwater bones

Police divers searched the area thoroughly

Police have identified human remains found by divers off the Ayrshire coast.

A major search of an area just 200 yards offshore from the popular tourist town of Largs was sparked when the bones were found in April.

Now police say they are those of Paul Christie who was reported missing from the town in February 1998.

The bones were subjected to extensive forensic tests and DNA analysis, and police say there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.

Mr Christie was reported missing by his late mother, Christine, in February 1998, a week after he was last seen by a relative.

Police appealed for information regarding his whereabouts - just prior to his 27th birthday on 9 May 1998.

A renewed appeal was made a year later after there had been no confirmed sightings of him.

Mr Christie lived alone in the town and was studying for a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies at Strathclyde University.