Wife welcomes missing Briton help

Mrs Hoyland and her family are now funding the search in Bali

The wife of a British sea scooter rider who went missing six weeks ago off the coast of Bali says she has fresh hope after meeting Foreign Office officials.

Jacqui Hoyland, of Penistone, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, believes her husband Jeremy could still be alive on an uninhabited island in the region.

She was in London to urge government officials to help retrieve mobile phone data which could help trace him.

Mrs Hoyland said "positive things" had come out of the meeting.

She explained the family needed to gain access to her husband's mobile phone records because they could help them calculate the direction in which he had drifted.

After a meeting with Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell she had gained fresh hope, she said.

Government 'breakthrough'

"We have asked him to put pressure on the Indonesian authorities to come forward and help us with Jeremy's positions in the water," said Mrs Hoyland.

"It has taken this long for someone with authority to get the ball rolling. These are golden hours."

She said it had been difficult getting mobile phone data from the Indonesian authorities, so it was a breakthrough to get the British Government on their side.

Mr Hoyland, who is the father of Ellena, 13, and Georgia, 11, has more than 10 years' experience as a sea scooter rider and is also an experienced administrator of the sport.

There has been no sign of Jeremy Hoyland despite extensive searches

The 41-year-old was acting as the race director at an event during the Asian Beach Games 2008.

On 24 October he set off with four friends for the Nusa Lembongan islet in the Indian Ocean.

He made a mobile phone call from out at sea to say he would drop behind to help one of the party but the rest of the group returned safely without him.

He also sent a text message in which said he was around two miles from the coast and in difficulty, but there has been no trace of him since.

Back in Britain, the family has so far raised £27,000 to help fund the search.

Mr Hoyland's brother Nicholas said Monday's meeting had provided new hope.

He said: "We need this data from the Indonesians so we can get the definitive facts, because we have been relying on hearsay up to now.

"Accurate mobile phone data will help us pinpoint him from the time he went missing and help us work out in which direction he drifted.

"If he is not alive, at least the new information could help us discover where he is so we can bring him home and put some closure on the whole case."