Families of missing fishermen informed after bodies of three men recovered off the Wirral and Blackpool

  • Wales

  • ITV Wales' North Wales reporter Ian Lang reports live from Conwy

The families of missing crew members from the fishing boat Nicola Faith have been informed after three bodies were recovered from the coastline off the Wirral and Blackpool over the weekend.

North Wales Police confirmed it has been in contact with colleagues from Merseyside and Lancashire police, and it is awaiting the outcome of the post mortem examinations.

Alan Minard, 20, Ross Ballantine, 39, and the boat's skipper Carl McGrath, 34, were declared missing after their fishing vessel the Nicola Faith failed to return to port on January 27.

A major search was launched when the boat failed to return but was stood down two days after their disappearance when nothing was found.

The search by the RNLI and Coastguard which involved several lifeboats, a helicopter and a plane was called off after two days on 29 January.

Earlier this month one of the vessel's life rafts was found off the coast of south west Scotland.

A major search operation took place after the boat went missing but was called off after two days

On Monday, a spokesman for North Wales Police said the force was aware the bodies of three men had been recovered from the coastline off Wirral and Blackpool over the weekend.

The spokesman said: "We have been in contact with colleagues from both Merseyside and Lancashire Police, and we await the outcome of the Home Office post-mortem examinations.

"The families of the missing crew members from the vessel Nicola Faith have been kept informed, and continue to be supported by specialist officers."

A private search for the three men was expected to begin this week after a fundraising campaign raised £55,000 to enlist the help of David Mearns, a deep-sea recovery expert who helped recover the downed plane carrying Cardiff-bound footballer Emiliano Sala.