Dedicated volunteers are refusing to give up on their hunt for missing teenager Ben Savage.

The search has resumed today, a month after the 18-year-old disappeared following a night out at the Tap’N’Tin bar in Chatham.

He was reported missing on Tuesday, December 6, and a police investigation uncovered footage of him on CCTV cameras near the Sun Pier area of Chatham.

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His devastated family, who live in Strood, say they have resigned themselves to the fact he fell in the river and was unable to swim to safety.

Before and since the footage was reviewed, police, Medway and Sheppey Coastguard crews along with the Sheerness inshore lifeboat have searched the area extensively.

Police and coastguard crews have been seen scouring the water and shoreline of the River Medway today.

VIDEO: Search resumes for missing teen Ben Savage

Since his disappearance, the teams have spent just under 500 hours searching the River Medway and the area of Sun Pier.

Richard Rodgers, deputy station officer for the Medway Coastguard, said: “We will continue to look for him until he is found.

“The crews will keep going out and have been carrying out additional patrols and weekend searches since he was reported missing.

“We have been looking along the banks of the river and not just at Sun Pier.

“We will continue in the hope we can give Ben’s family some answers.”

On December 14, family and friends held a candlelit vigil for Ben, placing flowers and candles on the end of the pier.

Coastguard volunteers also went along to pay their respects.

The touching tribute was organised after Ben’s mother, Tara, issued a statement on behalf of the Savage family, thanking everyone who had given up their time to search for her son.

Ben, a former pupil at Holmesdale School in Snodland and MidKent College in Maidstone, only turned 18 in November.

He had been to the bar with a workmate from Nestledown bed factory in Strood.

A spokesman for police said: “Ben remains missing and Kent Police continue to support his family.”

Anyone with any information about the hours leading up to Ben’s disappearance can call police on 101 quoting reference 06-0198.