Rescuers yesterday called off their search for a swimmer who is feared dead after he went missing in a loch in the Highlands.

LUCINDA CAMERON

Rescuers yesterday called off their search for a swimmer who is feared dead after he went missing in a loch in the Highlands.

A full-scale search resumed yesterday morning for the 20-year-old man, with coastguards, mountain rescue teams and police with search dogs combing the area.

But Stornoway Coastguard said the operation was called off at around midday after rescuers found no trace of the swimmer.

The man was a member of an angling party who were camping on the shore of Loch Assynt, east of Lochinver in Sutherland.

He decided to swim across the loch on Saturday night but got into difficulties in the middle of it as he swam back towards the campsite.

When his friends raised the alarm at 10.30pm they told rescuers they could still see him but then lost him from view.

A coastguard helicopter was scrambled and two coastguard rescue teams and police went to the scene.

Rescuers believe that that the man's chances of survival would be slim and it was not likely he was still alive.

Coastguard watch officer Jo Carrington said: "Swimming in fresh water is often more dangerous than swimming in the sea, as it can be much colder, and with no safety equipment it takes more energy to stay afloat.

"At any time of year swimming at night can be hazardous, as even in the summer months water temperatures are low enough for hypothermia to set in in as quickly as after only half an hour.

"Co-operation between ourselves and the land search units under command of the police is crucial in incidents such as this one. We had been working closely together to find this gentleman.

"The weather on scene was fine with good visibility and conditions were good for the search units at the loch."

Yesterday the Stornoway Coastguard helicopter, Coastguard rescue teams from Lochinver, Kinlochbervie and Scourie, Assynt mountain rescue team with a search dog and police officers with two search dogs were involved in the hunt.

In Wales, a 51-year-old swimmer was rescued by an RAF helicopter crew off Black Rock Sands near Porthmadog.

Emergency teams were alerted on Saturday after a woman reported that her husband had got into difficulty.

Once ashore, the man was treated in an ambulance for hypothermia but did not require hospital treatment.