Police searching for an Orpington firefighter who disappeared before Christmas have called off their physical searches.

Anthony Knott, 33, from Orpington, was last seen on Friday, December 20.

Anthony had met up with other firefighters on the Friday for a Christmas get together in Lewes, visiting a series of pubs within the town.

Read more: Family say Orpington firefighter's disappearance following pub crawl 'out of character'

He was last seen by friends at The Lamb in Fisher Street at around 7.30pm.

He was then captured on CCTV walking up Market Street – back towards The Lamb - at 7.41pm.

A family member posted on Facebook (31 December 2019 ): “Can we please ask to respect the privacy of Lucy and our family at this difficult time. We want to all spend some time with our children, which we haven’t been able to do for the last 11 days.

“In a couple of days, we will go back to the drawing board to look at what we need to do next.

“We are not giving up; we just need time to let Anthony’s disappearance sink in and try and focus on a new channel of how to find him.”

Anthony is described as white, approximately 6', of medium build and with medium-brown short gelled hair.

He was last seen wearing a black long-sleeved top, a dark denim suit-style jacket, dark denim jeans and black shoes.

He is also said to have a distinctive walk, with a slight bounce.

Police continue to investigate the disappearance.

Anyone who may have seen Anthony or who has other relevant information is asked to contact Sussex Police online or by phoning 101, quoting Operation Barnstaple.