Corrie McKeague's mother criticises 'ridiculous' decision to halt search

The mother of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague has said she is considering taking out an injunction to stop police filling in a landfill site where they have been searching for her son's body.

The serviceman, from Fife in Scotland, disappeared after a night out with friends in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 24 September last year.

Police began a search of Milton landfill site in Cambridgeshire, after CCTV footage showed the 23-year-old entering a bin loading bay, leading them to believe he could have been brought to the site in a waste lorry.

But the five-month search was brought to an end on Friday when officers found "no trace" of the missing serviceman.

Talking about the search for her son, Nicola Urquhart, herself a PC with Police Scotland, told Sky News: "I knew the search was going to be called off for about two weeks before it was and I didn't have a problem.

"However, it was somewhat of a shock to find out they were finishing the search but they still think Corrie's in the landfill."

At a news conference on Friday, police said they have handed back control of the 48-hectare landfill site and intend to have it filled in later this week.

The "unprecedented" search, which has seen 6,500 tonnes of waste sifted through, is understood to have cost £1.2m, but police said the search has not been halted due to the cost.

Ms Urquhart said: "I just don't understand that, if money isn't an issue, why have they stopped searching if they still believe he's in there? It's a question that I will be asking them."

Police have said they have searched the area where the wasted from the lorry was deposited, but following that, said "it's very difficult to establish exactly where we would search for Corrie".

Ms Urquhart said she hopes it does not come to a situation where she is forced to seek an injunction.

She said: "I'm not asking them just to keep searching indefinitely in the landfill area. We're talking about one specific cell - it's the only one that was open when Corrie went missing. I don't think it's unreasonable to say 'can that cell be finished?'"

So far over 21,000 people have signed a petition saying they want the police to continue via the Find Corrie page on Facebook.

Ms Urquhart also spoke about the possibility of asking the military or members of the public to assist in what is left of the landfill search.

She asked: "Would it be an option for me to pay to get the rubbish taken out of the landfill and for civilians to search through it? There must be something.

"It seems quite ridiculous to say we know he's in here, it's our longest line of enquiry, money isn't an issue but we're not going to search any longer. There must be some way of finding a compromise here."

Last month, Mr McKeague's girlfriend April Oliver announced the vanished serviceman had become a father with the birth of their daughter.