The father of a missing South Uist man has met with police following criticism of Northern Constabulary's handling of the search for his son.
Some islanders on South Uist who have been looking for a Simon MacMillan, who went missing on Boxing Day, say a police search for him was called off too soon.
The missing man’s father Angus MacMillan has now met with Chief Inspector Philip MacRae to seek a review on progress and after the three-hour meeting a family friend confirmed the talks had resulted in a number of areas of mutual agreement.
In the early days of the search for the 21-year-old, officers were heavily involved with the teams that spread across South Uist in the days and weeks after December 26 when he was last seen.
Although islanders continued to look for him, without any clues to go on police pulled out of the ground search.
One search team on the island who are still active has released a statement saying: "The people of Uist haven't given up, and neither should police."
They say the police withdrawal has caused a "great deal of dismay and anger" for those still looking for Simon on a daily basis.
Northern Constabulary said that while they are no longer involved on the ground, their enquiry continues.
Chief Inspector MacRae said: "We've identified a number of issues ......we will consider further searches."
Simon's father Angus has declined to be interviewed but in a joint statement with the police, the meeting has been described as very positive and assurances have been made that everything was being done to find his son.
