We waited three weeks for cops to find Greig's body but teám of volunteers took two hours

A HEARTBROKEN family have hit out at a lack of police resources after they were forced to recruit their own volunteer divers to find the body of a missing fisherman.

- SARAH VESTY

For three weeks, the loved ones of Greig Stoddart begged Police Scotland to put more resources into finding his body after he went missing on a fishing trip.

Frustrated at the lack of progress, they arranged for their own dive team to carry out a search of Gartmorn Dam, near Alloa and they found his body in just two hours.

His family are now calling for the £6000 AquaEye underwater search device they used to be made available to other families desperate to recover the bodies of their loved ones from water.

Greig's cousin Thomas Stoddart, who enlisted the help of volunteer divers Beneath the Surface, told the Record: "No family should have to go through what we have.

"The police even acknowledged that during a meeting we had with them but they do not have the resources they need, which is unacceptable in 2024.

"We couldn't wait any longer to find Greig.

"I just wanted him out of the water and I made a promise to him that I would get him home one way or another.

"Christmas Eve alone felt like it lasted for three weeks as we waited for news. It was the hardest festive period of my life and for the rest of our family." Dad-of-two Greig, 44, from Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, had been angling with his friend Ian McBurney, 55, at the loch on Christmas Eve before the pair got into difficulty.

Ian was found dead on Boxing Day but it took a further 19 days for Greig's body to be found.