POLICE SEARCH CULVER DOWN IN CONNECTION WITH MISSING SLOUGH MAN

Police searching for missing Slough man Chetan Patel have turned their attention to Culver Down, overlooking Sandown Bay. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary deployed resources to the area yesterday (Wednesday) as part of ongoing enquiries to locate the 56-year-old who went missing in late October. The National Police Air Service helicopter from Bournemouth was deployed to the coastal area between Bembridge and Sandown on Tuesday afternoon to conduct an aerial sweep of the cliff. It spent around 15 minutes on scene. Less than 90 minutes later, Police issued an appeal for information relating to Mr Patel, as new information suggested he may have been in the Shanklin area in early November. Specialist officers were joined by WightSAR – the Island’s voluntary search and rescue team – at the top of Culver Down yesterday morning as the search efforts intensified. Assets had left the area by 14:30. HM Coastguard was also deployed to assist Police, with Coastguard Rescue Teams and a Senior Coastal Operations Officer conducting a shoreline search between Yaverland and Culver. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary were approached for a statement on Wednesday