Dozens of community rescue volunteers join search for missing Chloe Mitchell in Ballymena

Ms Mitchell, 21, was last seen on CCTV in the early hours of June 3 in Ballymena town centre. Police are pursuing a criminal investigation into her disappearance. A major search operation continued in the town on Saturday. Several of the searches have focused on the area around the Braid River in the Co Antrim town.

Darren Harper, a district commander with the Community Rescue Service, said the operation was "challenging".

"We have a substantial amount of volunteers on the ground at the minute," he told the PA news agency. "We are rotating them more frequently than what we usually we do, given the temperature here today - it's about 19 to 20 degrees so it's important that we rotate them and get them water on board and look after their welfare while maintaining the search."

Mr Harper praised the local community in Ballymena, which he said had been bringing food and drink down for the search volunteers.

"The community has been absolutely fantastic," he said. The district commander insisted the volunteers were committed to continuing the search.

"We're still looking for a high-risk missing person and we will continue until Chloe is located or until the police deem that we are no longer needed," he said.