Sea search intensifies for British woman who went missing from Greek beach

A mammoth search-and-rescue operation for a British woman last seen lounging on a sunbed in Greece has intensified days after her "mysterious" disappearance.

- Helena Smith

The Hellenic coastguard, backed by a flotilla of pleasure craft and fishing boats, fanned across the waters off Ofrynio beach near the country's northern town of Kavala where Michele Bourda, 59, went missing last Friday.

"The search is very much on with a patrol vessel and other recreational boats out scouring the seas," said a coastguard official. "Three days may have elapsed but there are no plans to call off the operation yet."

While vessels combed the sea until sunset, police continued an extensive search on land, authorities said.