Nicola Faith: Body confirmed as missing Conwy fisherman

Carl McGrath, who was skipper of the Nicola Faith, pictured with girlfriend Amy Lamb

A body found on a Blackpool beach has been confirmed as one of three missing fishermen from Conwy.

Skipper Carl McGrath, 34, had been missing since the disappearance of the Nicola Faith fishing boat on 27 January.

His family have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers, said North Wales Police.

The two other crew members, Ross Ballantine, 39, and Alan Minard, 20, are still missing.

The Nicola Faith fishing boat has been missing since 27 January

A major search operation was launched when the Nicola Faith did not return to Conwy but was called off "pending further information" after two days.

Earlier this month, its life raft was found off the coast of Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland by the Coastguard.

The bodies of three men were then found last week off the north-west coast of England, with family members informed and post-mortem examinations taking place.

Alan Minard, Ross Ballantine and Carl McGrath went missing while on the Nicola Faith fishing boat

Sea search specialist David Mearns, who found the wreckage of the plane carrying footballer Emiliano Sala which disappeared off Guernsey in 2019, is leading a search for the missing boat.

A sonar search vessel is looking for the Nicola Faith on the sea bed.

The survey boat called Pulsar uses sonar equipment to search the seabed