Young men are being urged to keep an extra eye out for their drinking buddies tonight as they ring in the new year.

The warning from Kent Search and Rescue comes as new research reveals men are most likely to go missing on a night out - often with a fatal outcome.

The initial findings show men are most likely to go missing during the winter months.

The Men Missing on a Night Out study was carried out by the Department of Geography and Geology at Kingston University and the National Crime Agency’s UK Missing Persons Bureau (UKMPB).

Kent Search and Rescue is now encouraging men to look after their friends and ensure one another get home safely after bringing in the New Year in Kent this evening.

The appeal follows two tragic cases last year in Kent.

In December 28-year-old Pat Lamb from Greenhithe went missing after a night out in Maidstone

He became separated from his friends after having drinks at Bar Chocolate, during the early hours of December 13.

His body was discovered in the River Medway at Cuxton Marina a month later.

Just days earlier, David Leavey went missing after meeting a friend.

The 37-year-old, of Frindsbury Road in Strood, is thought to have fallen in the River Medway and drowned trying to reach his friend's boat.

His body was also found at Cuxton.

An inquest found he was three times the legal drink-drive limit.

So far, 97 cases have been identified where men were found dead after going missing on a night out in the UK, between January 2010 and August 2015.

The winter months of December, January and February accounted for over half (53%) of fatal disappearances, with one fifth (21%) going missing in December alone.

Of those that went missing in December, five men were described as being on a work Christmas party and five went missing on New Year’s Eve or in the early hours of 1st January.

Findings show that 89% of men that died after going missing on a night out were found in water.

Stewart Baird is search manager at Kent Search and Rescue, who provide vital help to find vulnerable missing people.

He said: "Water plays a major part in many of these young people's deaths.

"We have so many, Pat Lamb was a tragic case last Christmas and in that period we had three other males who tragically lost their lives in rivers in Kent.

"Women tend to stay together as a group when walking back on a night out but men often walk home alone.

"We'd suggest people stay together and look after their friends and get them home safely."

Joe Apps, manager of the UK Missing Persons Bureau at the National Crime Agency, said: "The missing person stories forming the basis of this newly collected data are a powerful and timely reminder of the dangers of excessive drinking, especially at Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties.

"All 97 cases identified in the study relate to men that have gone missing, so it’s important that this group of people take special care."

Missing persons cases such as these can often take a long time to resolve, leaving families in limbo.

Of the cases identified in this study, 43% were missing for more than one week and up to one month before their body was discovered, with 20% missing for over one month.

Geoff Newiss, project leader and Honorary Fellow at Kingston University said: " It’s a tragedy for any family to have a husband, son or brother go missing on a night out and then be found to have died.

"But it’s made a lot worse when families are left wondering what’s happened to their loved one for weeks and, in some cases, years.

"One of the key goals of this project is to identify steps to reduce delays in finding missing people who have died which will help give anxious families and friends some closure."

The full findings from the study will be reported in late 2016.