POLICE investigating the disappearance of a Scottish sailor in Dubai have traced a taxi driver who gave him a lift just before he went missing.

Father-of-two Timmy MacColl vanished seven weeks ago after a night out in the Deira area, while the warship he was serving on was docked in Port Rashid.

He was last seen getting into a cab in the early hours of the morning on May 27 and his family have now been told by local detectives that the driver got lost close to the port.

In a statement, his family said: "When he stopped at a tea shack to get directions, Timmy got out the cab."

It remains unknown what happened next to the 27-year-old, originally from Killin, Perthshire, whose 25-year-old wife Rachael is 30 weeks pregnant.

His family have visited Dubai and met with the country's police chief, Lieutenant general Dhahi Khalfan al-Tamim who told them about the taxi driver. They were also shown the port and claimed it was "almost impossible" for anyone to get to the water's edge.

Royal Navy divers who conducted searches in Port Rashid found nothing significant. Mr MacColl's uncle, Colin, 52, said: "The fact that the searches have failed to find anything just raises more questions about what happened to Timothy.

"We are urging anybody who know anything, no matter how small, to contact Dubai Police."

Last month, Mrs MacColl said she believed her husband "wants to be found".