'Race against time' as missing Dr Michael Mosley thought to have taken 'inexplicable' route on Greek island

The hunt for missing TV doctor Michael Mosley has resumed, a search co-ordinator has said. At 6am local time on Saturday, firefighters started scouring a 6.5km radius over a mountainous area that is surrounded by sea, said Manolis Tsimpoukas, who organises searches for missing people on the Dodecanese Islands.

Asked if there had been any sign of Mr Mosley, he said there has been "nothing, nothing" and that if anything is discovered, they will find him within an hour. He said the area is "very dangerous".

It is understood Mr Mosley was last seen by CCTV on a grey-stoned house beside a harbour on the island. He may have walked along a steep uphill concrete road. At the end of the street, a small rocky path leads into the rocky landscape which has little vegetation beyond thistles and dry grass.

There is "no chance" the search will be called off until he is found, Symi's mayor has said, as it enters its fourth day. Speaking through a translator, Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas questioned how anyone could survive in the heat that topped 40C on the day the TV doctor disappeared.

The search dog was only able to work for an hour on Saturday morning due to the temperature, he added. Symi's mayor of more than two decades said the area where Dr Mosley is believed to have travelled through is "difficult to pass" and is "only rocks".

It is also populated by "loads" of snakes, he said. Mr Papakaloudoukas hoped Dr Mosley is found "safe and alive" and said "all the community is so sad about this, (it has) never happened before".

Emergency crews had paused the search at 8pm Greek time on Friday as dusk fell. Dr Mosley, 67, vanished on Wednesday after setting off on a walk to the centre of the island. Police and firefighters had been using drones to try to locate Mr Mosley, while divers and the local coast guard had joined rescue efforts, alongside local residents who were said to be using their own boats to find the British national.

The search-and-rescue operation for Mr Mosley was described as a "race against time" on Friday, as it switched to a treacherous mountainous path. CCTV footage from a house at the edge of Pedi's small marina at the far end of the village showed the presenter entering the path at about 2pm on Wednesday. One of the rescuers told the PA news agency that Mr Mosley's decision was "inexplicable", as it would have taken a fit young person three hours to walk to the port.

"The path is not easy to follow, if he took a wrong turn, he would be lost. He could be anywhere, It is a race against time," she said of the little-used path, which runs inland rather than following the coast.

Meanwhile, the mayor's daughter Mika Papakalodouka told PA the path he is thought to have taken is "not dangerous at all, but we have 40C outside so it's easy to get dizzy". The area where Mr Mosley went missing is experiencing hot temperatures, with a yellow weather warning for high temperatures in force in Rhodes and the surrounding islands including Symi, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service.

Ms Papakalodouka, whose father Eleftherios Papakalodouka has been mayor of Symi for 22 years, said the island is "close" with around 300 permanent residents - some of whom were scouring the island for Mr Mosley.

"It is a small island, people talk. We're good people actually here. Everybody is looking for him," the 20-year-old told PA. "It's such a small island to get lost on. It's so weird for us. Everybody is worried and looking for him."

Symi's coast guard said all of its patrol boats were out searching on Friday, while the Ministry of Maritime Affairs confirmed the Port Authority of Symi was assisting the investigations of the Hellenic Police, "using patrols from the sea and operational vessels patrolling the area".

A spokesperson for the Greek fire service said seven firefighters and one drone had been checking the wider area on Friday, while the Greek police were using sniffer dogs in the island search. Greek police said they were informed of the disappearance of "the 67-year-old British national on the island" on Wednesday, according to a statement.

A woman reported seeing Mr Mosley, known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, in the Pedi area on Wednesday. A local Facebook group said Mr Mosley went for a walk from Saint Nikolas beach at about 1.30pm Greek time on Wednesday.

Mr Mosley is known for being a columnist for the Daily Mail and has made a number of films about diet and exercise. The broadcaster fronted the Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? and was part of the BBC series Trust Me, I'm A Doctor.

He also lived with tapeworms in his gut for six weeks for the documentary Infested! Living With Parasites on BBC Four. Mr Mosley received an Emmy nod for BBC science documentary The Human Face, presented by John Cleese and featuring a raft of famous faces, including Elizabeth Hurley, Pierce Brosnan and Sir David Attenborough.

He also advocated intermittent fasting through the 5:2 diet and The Fast 800 diet. Mr Mosley has four children with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley, also a doctor, author and health columnist, who wrote the recipe book Fast 800 Easy.

The couple, who have hosted theatre show tours together, recently attended the Hay Festival, where Mr Mosley presented a special edition of his Radio 4 series and podcast Just One Thing.