THE father of a botanist missing in Vietnam has made a fresh appeal for ­information a year on from when he was last seen.

Jamie Taggart, from Argyll and Bute, set off from his hotel on October 31 last year but failed to return from a plant-hunting trip to the northern mountainous region of the country.

The 41-year-old's rucksack and passport were found at his hotel in the town of Sapa.

Local police and the ­British embassy in Hanoi were informed of his ­disappearance and searches of the area have continued this year but turned up nothing.

Mr Taggart runs Linn Botanic Gardens in the village of Cove on the Rosneath peninsula. He is also a retained firefighter.

His father, Dr Jim Taggart, found out his son was ­missing when he failed to board a scheduled flight home to Scotland on November 29 last year.

"Someone, somewhere must know something," Dr Taggart senior said.

"It is very hard to disappear absolutely completely."

Mr Taggart was last seen getting off a motorcycle taxi in the Hoang Lien national park near Sapa.

The area is near the border with China and Dr Taggart said some local tribes often crossed the border.

"It seems to me over the space of a year that it is probable someone has stumbled across something, but they might not want to get involved with the local police," he said.

"It is possible that someone might have seen him who should not have been there."

His passport and bag have still not been returned and Dr Taggart said the behaviour of the police in Vietnam had been "disgraceful".