TV doctor Michael Mosley missing on Greek island

A search and rescue operation is under way after Michael Mosley, the television doctor, went missing on a Greek island.

The 67-year-old dieting guru, well known to British viewers through appearances on This Morning, failed to return from a hike on the island of Symi, near Rhodes, part of the Dodecanese chain of islands.

A search was launched after his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, raised the alarm.

Greek police fear he may have been injured in a fall after walking to St Nicholas Beach, a popular spot on the island, along with another couple.

Rescue searches launched on early Thursday morning have not yet yielded any results. A search and rescue team with drones has been scrambled from Athens and was expected to arrive on Symi at 1pm, according to a British expat.

Mr Mosley left his phone by the beach at around 1.30 pm on Wednesday and was walking back to his home in Pedi, a small hamlet around 1.5km away, Greek police said.

Constantina Dimoglidou, a senior police spokesman, said ongoing searches, which began early on Thursday morning, had yet to yield any news.

He said: “Any and every attempt to track him down has not produced any result. We have now asked the fire brigade to assist in the operation in the case that he may have slipped, tripped, fallen, even [been] bitten by a snake, remaining injured somewhere.

“There is just no trace of him. None whatsoever and that means that for us at least, every potential scenario is open and being investigated.”

Four police officers, eight firefighters with a drone and eight volunteers are participating in the search. Police have also requested the deployment of a police dog and a helicopter from the civil protection authorities.

The area where the presenter went missing is considered “difficult as it is quite rocky”, Lefteris Papakalodoukas, the Symi mayor, told the Greek daily Kathimerini.

Mr Papakalodoukas described the heat on the island on Wednesday as “unbearable” and said that “one could easily faint in such conditions”. An excessive heat warning was issued by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service on the day Mr Mosley went missing, with temperatures reaching 36 degrees Celsius.

Mr Mosley, he said, “wanted to walk back from the beach, but that’s a distance of about an hour and a half and there are shortcuts he may have taken.”

Adriana Shum, a British expat and local journalist who has lived on the island for 30 years, said on Thursday morning: “A search and rescue team is coming from Athens with drones and other more sophisticated equipment to extend the search.”

She shared a recent photo of Mr Mosley on the island to the Facebook group Friends of Symi, writing: “Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from St Nick’s at about 13.30 and failed to make it home.

“His friends are concerned as it is six hours since they last saw him. His name is Dr Mike Mosley and he is a familiar face for many British people as he has appeared on the BBC.

“The police and coast guard have been informed. EDOK, the island’s rescue team, is also involved. So far, he still has not been found and the search continues.”

Another expat wrote on the Facebook page: “Be assured that Symi is a very resourceful island. The authorities and volunteers are doing everything possible to find this man. You will be notified just as soon as there is news.

“And as an aside, it really is of no consequence as to how famous or successful this chap is, or that he is a celebrity. The efforts to find him are exactly the same as for anyone else here on Symi.”