THE search for an elderly Bolton man missing for three days in the North Sea on a home-made canal boat has been called off.
Coastguard patrols from the North-west, the Isle of Man and the Irish Republic have searched 25 nautical miles of the sea but there has been no sight of pensioner Wilfred Critchley.
Mr Critchley, who is believed to have been born in Bolton, left Knott End, near Fleetwood, in the flat-bottomed canal boat - despite repeated warnings from the Coastguard that it was dangerous to undertake the journey - last Wednesday.
The pensioner is thought to have been attempting to sail to the Isle of Man to visit his brother. The sea search has now been called off, but a spokesman for Liverpool Coastguard today said police will continue to keep a close watch on local harbours.
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