Search ends for ferry passenger

A search has been called off for a passenger feared missing in the Irish Sea after failing to disembark from a Liverpool to Dublin ferry.

The alarm was raised shortly before midnight on Friday when the Liverpool Viking docked in Dublin with some of the missing man's belongings onboard.

CCTV footage from the ferry did not show the passenger leaving in Dublin.

Holyhead and Dublin coastguards, an RAF Valley helicopter and an Irish rescue helicopter all took part in the search.

Coastguards said they could not be certain the man did not leave the ferry but he did not appear on the CCTV footage.

The search called off at 1200 BST for this reason.

It began at 0730 BST in poor visibility and was carried out over a wide area.

However coastguards added with current sea temperatures, no-one could survive in the water for that length of time.

An investigation into the whereabouts of the missing man is being co-ordinated by police in Dublin.