Esther Dingley search: Police 'analyse Instagram photos and interview partner' as search falters

Spanish and French authorities have been trying to track down the 37-year-old from Durham for more than a week - Reuters

Police hunting for the missing British hiker Esther Dingley have interviewed her boyfriend and begun analysing Instagram photos as they stepped up efforts to find her.

Spanish and French authorities have been trying to track down the 37-year-old from Durham for more than a week after she was last seen in the mountains surrounding the Pic de Sauvegarde in the Pyrenees, where she sent her partner Dan Colegate a picture via Whatsapp on November 22.

From there she planned to walk between Port de la Gléré and Port de Venasque - a route of some eight miles - before hiking down from the mountains on November 25, but no trace has been found of her since.

Investigators are now closely examining the images she posted on social media in the hours before she disappeared, including looking at her sunglasses to determine her movements, according to The Sun.

One of the police officers leading the French side of the investigation also said Mr Colgate had been interviewed by both the Gendarmerie in France and the Guardia Civil in Spain.

There is no suggestion he is suspected of any wrongdoing.

“He has cooperated fully with both forces and continues to do so,” Gendarme Captain Bordinaro told MailOnline.

The investigator said they were keeping an open mind about Ms Dingley’s fate, but added: “Her disappearance is more likely to be the result of a voluntary or criminal act.”