Divers search for missing mother

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Underwater teams are expected to search locks and waterways

Divers are being brought in to help in the search for a missing Northamptonshire mother-of-two.

Underwater searches are set to be carried out near the Oundle home of 45-year-old Gillian Merrick, who was last seen late on New Year's Day.

A search was under way in the area of Barnwell Country Park as relatives grow increasingly concerned for her safety.

Police are also making inquiries in and around the village Forest Row, Sussex, where she had lived for three years.

On Monday about 50 people joined police in the search for Mrs Merrick.

'Painstaking search'

Police appealed for a lorry driver to come forward who earlier reported seeing a woman walking in the carriageway of the A605 close to Oundle after Mrs Merrick went missing.

She is recovering from a back operation and had been with her husband, Nick, and their teenage son and daughter before she disappeared.

It is thought she was wearing a beige jacket, red scarf and gloves when she went missing.

She is about 5ft 6in tall (1.67m), slim, with a fair complexion and collar-length brown straight hair.

Police said they were carrying out a "painstaking" search.

With temperatures dropping below freezing, officers said they were becoming "increasingly concerned" for her safety.