Ben Needham: New dig begins on Kos in search for missing toddler

Specialists are carrying out a painstaking search of the potential burial site of missing British toddler Ben Needham on the Greek island of Kos.

A new line of inquiry has suggested Ben may have been crushed to death by a digger close to a farmhouse his grandfather was renovating in July 1991.

A local man has claimed his late friend Konstantinos Barkas may have accidentally killed the 21-month-old.

Video report by ITV News Correspondent Martin Geissler.

This is the patch of scrubland where police believe they will find missing Ben Needham.

A team of 19 specialists have begun digging up the land behind the Kos farmhouse where the toddler was last seen in a search which could last weeks.

Detective Jon Cousins, who is leading the investigation, said police expect to find "hundreds of bones" due to the archaeological significance of the site.

"Each bone will have to be tested," he told a press conference.

Detective Cousins said archaeologists would be present throughout and if the search had to be stopped at any time it would be for "good reason".

"It is going to be a lengthy and meticulous process over the coming days and maybe even weeks.

"Ever since that day, little Ben's family have been tirelessly seeking to find the answers as to what happened to Ben.

"I've played a small part in this investigation and this has been my life for the past 18 months.

"I can only hardly begin to imagine what it must have been like for the Needham family over the past 25 years."

The detective in charge of the Ben Needham investigation said he is "optimistic" they will find the youngster's body in a new search 25 years after he disappeared.

Ben was just 21 months old when he went missing on a family holiday to the Greek island of Kos on 24 July 1991.

Police are about to start digging up a patch of scrubland behind the farmhouse where he was last seen.

They believe Ben's body is there after claims a local businessman accidentally crushed him to death with a digger and then buried him.

Detective Inspector Jon Cousins told a press conference he was "optimistic" they would find Ben, but added he was "keeping an open mind".

He also appealed to any locals who had any further information about Ben's disappearance to come forward and speak to police in confidence.