THE husband of a woman who went missing 43 years ago has denied having anything to do with her disappearance as police said they had found nothing during an excavation of the garden at their former home.

Ellen Elizabeth Ruffle, known as Evelyn, went missing from her home in Annan Glade, Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, in 1969, leaving behind two children, then aged four and 18 months.

Officers re-examining the case have searched the house and garden using ground-penetrating radar equipment, and yesterday they dug up the garden. But last night they said the search had "proved negative".

They are now planning to carry out further searches in the immediate area over the coming days and weeks.

Mrs Ruffle's husband, Norman, 71, blamed his son Graham, now 44, for pushing for a new investigation and refusing to let the matter lie.

Speaking from his home in Melrose in the Borders, the former security firm manager insisted he had nothing to hide.

He said: "I have absolutely no thoughts on the search being made at the old house. It has brought it all up again for the family. I was contacted by the police and I was speaking to them yesterday.

"I don't expect to be speaking to them again."

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said last night: "An extensive search of the property at Annan Glade, Motherwell has been carried out utilising sensitive search equipment.

"This search has proved negative. An area within the rear of the property was subject to excavation, however, this has again proved negative.

"The property has now been handed back to the householder, and the police are grateful for the assistance and co-operation provided at this location."

Mr Ruffle lives with his second wife Senga, 60, who he married in 1975, six years after his first wife's disappearance.

He took his son and his daughter Rosemary to live in South Africa shortly after Mrs Ruffle vanished aged 34.

The pensioner claimed his son has a vendetta against him and his new wife.

He added: "I know Graham had pushed for the investigation. I have a court case involving him coming up so I don't want to discuss him. I have nothing more to say about it."

Graham Ruffle, who now lives in London, has fought for the police investigation and said he now hopes to get to the bottom of what happened to his mother all those years ago.

He said: "All I have ever wanted is the truth, so I can finally get some kind of closure on this."

He recently made an official complaint about allegations of physical abuse at the hands of his father and step-mother.

He claims Senga only told him she was not his real mother after giving him a beating for coming home from school late on the day of his 13th birthday.

Graham added: "Basically, after a very unhappy childhood, I was left with a big void in my life.

"I was finally told of a natural mother I had never known and whom I was never encouraged to think of."

He added that he has no real memories of the family home in Motherwell, but was anxious to find out the results of the police search.