UNDERWATER search teams are hunting for 57-year-old Nicholas Lightowler after he disappeared from the deck of a motor cruiser.

Mr Lightowler, who had recently moved from Amersham Road, Hazlemere to Leeds, disappeared after taking the Sealine F33 on an unsupervised test drive along the River Ouse in York last Friday evening.

Concern about Mr Lightowler has been heightened because of his health. He needs regular dialysis treatment and has not kept a hospital appointment.

Eyewitnesses who saw the boat powering up the river said the driver was "shouting or singing" before he went missing.

The boat was found drifting, with its engine still running, near Nether Poppleton at about 7pm last Friday. It is believed the craft may have hit a bridge near Overton and Mr Lightowler could have been thrown overboard.

Police underwater search teams and dog handlers were yesterday continuing to search the river and the banks working downstream from the village of Overton.

Solicitor Matthew Smith, 25, saw the boat approaching Scarborough railway bridge as he walked home on Friday.

He said: "It appeared to be going at a reasonable speed, a lot faster than the pleasure boats. What made me notice was that it was creating a significant wash, which was churning up the river quite badly.

"The river was high. The wash was causing a splash on the riverbank. As it came closer, I could see him. He was shouting at someone or singing."

The boat was later caught on camera by Tony Fisher as it struggled to negotiate a second bridge an hour before the damaged craft was found abandoned.

Mr Fisher, who had been taking pictures of the floods, saw the boat hit the underneath of the bridge and said it appeared to lose an aerial and part of its radar equipment.

Sergeant John Suchomski confirmed today that Mr Lightowler, who is Austrian born, had visited Narburn Marina as a prospective buyer for the craft and was testing it on the river when he was last seen.