Police and coastguard searched the River Medway for three hours last night, following a possible sighting of a body in the water.

A police helicopter, several police units and the Medway coastguard were deployed in the search after a member of the public reported seeing what they thought looked like a body in the river near Sun Pier, Chatham, at 7.10pm.

Richard Rodgers, deputy station officer of the Medway Coastguard Team, said the call proved to be a false alarm, but had been made "in good faith".

He said there had been several such calls made since the disappearance of Strood teenager Ben Savage, but said people should not be dissuaded from reporting potential sightings.

"You are going to get calls that are made in good faith, and we would still encourage people to call with sightings," said Mr Rodgers. "We just want to find him, and we're still working actively to find him."

Friends of Ben held a candle-lit vigil on Wednesday after his family asked for time to grieve as they come to terms with the likelihood he fell in the river.

Ben, 18, did not return home after a night out on Monday December 5 and was reported missing the next morning.