Esther Dingley: Police search for missing British hiker resumes

Esther Dingley sent this selfie at the top of a mountain on 22 November

Spanish police have resumed their search for a British woman who went missing while hiking in the Pyrenees last year, her partner has said.

Searches for Esther Dingley, 37, were halted over winter by mountain snow in her last known location.

She last made contact with her partner Daniel Colegate from the top of Pic de Sauvegarde, on the French-Spanish border, on 22 November.

Mr Colegate has been searching alone for her for the past few months.

He said he has been in regular contact with the Spanish authorities and they have now resumed their searches after the snow melted.

Sgt Jorge Lopez Ramos of the Guardia Civil, who is leading the searches, said a helicopter will be deployed again but a busy period of rescues is about to begin meaning "we won't be able to search for Esther systematically like we did at the beginning,", according to The Sun.

Since April, Mr Colegate has spent his days walking the lower trails around the area trying to find any sign of his partner.

"I will continue to search because it is all I can do," he said.

Official searches in the area around the Refuge de Venasque were unable to be carried out due to the snow in the area

He has been on the Spanish side but said he is moving round to France on Tuesday.

Ms Dingley had started her solo-trek in Benasque and had been due to spend the night at the Refuge de Venasque.

Esther Dingley and Dan Colegate were six years into a campervan tour of Europe when she went missing

The couple from Durham were six years into a campervan tour of Europe when Ms Dingley went missing.

She had been travelling in the couple's campervan while Mr Colegate stayed at a farm in the Gascony area of France.

Anyone with information on Ms Dingley's disappearance is asked to contact LBT Global on 0800 098 8485 or email [e-mail].