John Tossell: Missing man's family criticise Greek police

The family of a man who has been missing on the Greek island of Zante for more than a week claim the police did not check CCTV properly.

John Tossell from Bridgend did not return to the hotel he was staying at with his partner Gillian after going for a walk on 17 June.

Emergency services spent a week looking for Mr Tossell but have now stopped.

Gillian's son, Leigh Griffiths, 46, said: "I don't think we have any chance of finding John alive."

The 73-year-old was on the third day of a holiday and had gone for a walk to the monastery on Mount Skopos near the village of Argassi.

Mr Griffiths, who has helped with the search, said: "We met the police chief when I arrived on the Wednesday [19 June] and asked him about any CCTV but they said there had been no recorded images of John from the morning he went missing."

He said police had checked cameras between 09:30 - 10:30 but did not spot Mr Tossell.

Mr Tossell had been visiting the Panagia Skopiotissa monastery

"I asked for them to go back just before 09:30 and there he was. I found that almost straight away."

A local restaurant had clearer CCTV images of Mr Tossell walking down the street and from that Mr Griffiths said they were able to work out which side of the mountain he would have walked up.

"If the police would have done this earlier we could have focused the search on that one point of the Skopos mountain.

"I think this would have given us more of a chance of finding John."

Mr Griffiths described Mr Tossell as a "fit man" who swims three times a week and walks miles with his dogs.

"I'm a realistic man, I don't think we have any chance of finding John alive," he said.

John Tossell has been missing since 17 June

"I just fear the heat has got too much for John and it's overcome him and he's fallen down one of the steep valleys.

"It's like he's vanished off the face of the earth." 

Mr Griffiths appealed for information about a woman aged between 44-55 with shoulder length blonde hair who was seen talking to Mr Tossell at a cafe near the monastery while with her partner.

"We really need to find this couple so we can piece together John's movements." 

BBC Wales has asked police on Zante to respond.