The search for Jay Slater in an area of Tenerife has been called off, police have said, nearly two weeks after his disappearance.

The British teenager, from Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn in Lancashire, has been missing in Tenerife since 17 June, when he vanished the morning after a rave.

The Civil Guard called for volunteers to join a new search in the Masca area – near his last-known location – on Saturday.

It has now confirmed to Sky News that the search has ended. Police are keeping the investigation open and could yet open up searches in the south of the island, but have not provided an update.

A handful of volunteers turned up to help rescue teams on Saturday, forming a total group of 30 to 40 people scouring a huge area of rugged and hilly terrain.

Mr Slater, 19, had been on holiday with friends on the Spanish island and was last pictured at Papayago, a nightclub hosting the end of the NRG festival, late on 16 June.

After the event ended, he got in a car travelling to a small Airbnb in Masca with two men, who police said on Saturday are “not relevant” to the case.

His last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the island – which is about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation.

A local cafe owner told Sky News he tried to catch a bus back to Los Cristianos, where he was staying.

Ofelia Medina Hernandez said she spoke to the teenager at 8am on 17 June, telling him a bus was due at 10am – but he set off walking and she said she later drove past him “walking fast”.

The apprentice bricklayer called a friend holidaying with him at around 8.30am on 17 June and said he was going to walk back after missing the bus.

He also told his friend he was lost and in need of water, with only 1% charge on his phone.

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On Friday, Mr Slater’s friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV’s This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.

He said he could see his friend’s feet “sliding” down the hill and hear he was walking on gravel.

Meanwhile, Mr Slater’s family shared a blurry image of what they believe could be the missing teenager captured on CCTV in a nearby town 10 hours after he was first reported missing.

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Local police and the Civil Guard, along with Mr Slater’s family, have been involved in the search.

Since his disappearance, rumours and conspiracy theories have emerged amid online speculation on social media.

Some social media sleuths have even travelled to Tenerife to try and find him.

Leaders and politicians of all parties are coming out swinging today as the general election campaign enters the final days.

Rishi Sunak is today saying that Labour would cause “irreversible damage within just 100 days of coming to power”, while his top lieutenants warn of the “danger” of a government led by Sir Keir Starmer.

With polls throughout the campaign showing the Conservative Party failing to make a dent in Labour’s 21-point lead, according to the Sky News Poll Tracker, the prime minister only has days to change minds across the country in his bid to retain power.

Meanwhile, the Labour leader is arguing that if the Conservatives are re-elected, “they will feel entitled to continue serving themselves, rather than putting the needs of our country first”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is continuing to promote his party’s proposals for the NHS, while SNP leader John Swinney is arguing that the Scottish public should “vote SNP to put Scotland’s interests first”.

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Sunak says Labour ‘cannot be trusted’

The Conservative Party is continuing its warning that a Labour government would see taxes rise, and the prime minister is arguing electing Sir Keir would do “irreversible damage within just 100 days of coming to power”.

Mr Sunak said that Labour’s plans to impose VAT on private school fees would risk “throwing thousands of families’ plans for the autumn term into chaos, with children wondering if they will have a desk at school to go back to”.

And he also claimed that Labour would make Britain the “soft touch migrant capital of the world” with “open borders” and an “illegal migrant amnesty”.

The prime minister added: “They cannot be trusted. We must not surrender our taxes, our borders and our security to them. Only the Conservatives will deliver tax cuts, a growing economy and a brighter, more secure future for everyone.”

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron went further in an interview with The Sunday Times, suggesting that a Labour government would be a threat to national security.

He told the newspaper that Sir Keir “is in danger of weakening Britain’s position and weakening Britain’s defences, all in a way that’s completely unnecessary”.

The ex-prime minister described Labour as “hopelessly naive about the dangerous world in which we’re living”, adding: “The last thing we need in Britain now is another liberal leftie lawyer running the country.”

But Sir Keir hit back, noting that the government has already given him “high level sensitive briefings, so much do they trust us on national security”.

“To now turn around and make this ridiculous claim just shows how desperate they have become going into this election,” he added.

Starmer appeals for ‘clear mandate’ to govern

The Labour leader and the potential next chancellor, Rachel Reeves, also spoke to The Sunday Times, and they talked about their goal of getting housebuilding ramping up “on day one” if they win the election.

The newspaper reports that at least three housing announcements are expected to be made within the first fortnight of a Labour government, saying that opportunities for young people from working-class backgrounds to own their own home “don’t exist”.

And in an article for The Observer, Sir Keir wrote that if voters elect Labour on Thursday, “the work of change begins” and they will “get to work on repairing our public services with an immediate cash injection, alongside urgent reforms”.

He also attacked the Tories’ record in power, saying if they are re-elected, “Britain will remain stuck in their low-growth, high-tax, declining public services doom-loop”.

“The unfunded splurge contained in their manifesto will unleash chaos into our economy once again. And they will feel entitled to continue serving themselves, rather than putting the needs of our country first,” he added.

“Frankly, should they win another five years after everything they’ve put us through in this parliament, they would surely think they could get away with anything.”

He appealed for a “clear mandate” to implement his plans, pointing to “chaos” under Mr Sunak and Liz Truss before him as examples of what happens when prime ministers seek to “govern without that mandate”.

Read more:
What the polls tell us about what will happen on 4 July
What are in the party manifestos?

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SNP ‘offers hope of better future’

Meanwhile in Scotland, the leader of the SNP is appealing to Scots to back his party as polls show that Labour could become the largest Scottish parliamentary contingent in over a decade.

John Swinney argued that while “the result in England is now inevitable”, in “most seats in Scotland it’s too close to call between the SNP and Labour”.

He hit out at the Labour Party, saying a Starmer government “plans to impose £18bn of cuts to public spending – after years of austerity, Brexit and the ongoing cost of living crisis”.

To avoid that, he said, and to “ensure that decisions about Scotland are made in Scotland, then you’ve got to vote SNP”.

“The SNP offers Scotland the hope of a better future – but you have to vote for it. This Thursday, vote SNP to put Scotland’s interests first,” he added.

Tories have ‘failed’ to support families in grief

The Liberal Democrats are continuing to unveil policies, focused on the NHS and reversing “heartless Tory cuts” to bereavement payments.

On the latter as it stands, a bereaved family where a spouse or partner has died receives a lump sum of up to £3,500, followed by a monthly payment of up to £350 for 18 months.

The party is calling for this period to be extended, and is pledging to inject an additional £440m a year into the system by 2028-29 to fund it.

Sir Ed Davey said in a statement: “Rishi Sunak’s government has failed to ensure families are not left struggling to pay the bills at such a difficult period of time.

“The Liberal Democrats would treat families and children who lose a loved one with dignity and provide the support they deserve.”

He also reiterated his party’s pledge to give people a legal right to see a GP within a week and start cancer treatment within two months, with Sir Ed saying that his party has “put health and care at the heart of our fair deal for the country”.

Farage goes on the attack

Meanwhile, Reform UK is on the offensive after facing a slew of racism allegations over recent days.

The party yesterday withdrew support for three candidates, and it came on the heels of Channel 4 news airing footage filmed undercover that showed Andrew Parker, an activist canvassing for Mr Farage, using the racial slur “P***” to describe the prime minister, describing Islam as a “disgusting cult”, and saying the army should “just shoot” migrants crossing the Channel.

Nigel Farage has gone on the attack, with the party saying it has reported Channel 4 to the elections watchdog for alleged “scandalous… interference” over what the party claims was a fake rant planted by the broadcaster.

Mr Farage also hit out at the BBC, saying he would refuse to appear on their flagship Sunday morning show until they apologise for their “dishonest” audience during a BBC Question Time special on Friday, accusing the broadcaster of having “behaved like a political actor throughout this election”.

He will hold a vast rally in Birmingham later today, after speaking to Sky News from Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips at 8.30am.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will be joining Sky News’ Trevor Philips from 8.30am this morning on his last programme before the election – along with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden, and SNP leader and Scottish First Minister John Swinney.

A “massive search” for British teenager Jay Slater will get under way in Tenerife today, almost two weeks after the apprentice bricklayer went missing.

The Civil Guard said they would step up their search for the 19-year-old after appealing for volunteer associations, such as firefighters, and individual volunteers with experience in navigating difficult terrain to help them.

Police and volunteers will begin their search at 9am in the village of Masca, near Mr Slater‘s last-known location, and attempt to retrace his last-known steps.

In a statement, police said: “The massive search will be carried out on Saturday, 29 June from 9am.

“Bearing in mind that this is an abrupt, rocky area, full of unevenness and with a multitude of ravines, paths and roads, the collaboration of all those associations of volunteers who can help in this raid that is intended to be carried out in a directed and coordinated manner is requested.”

Sky’s North of England correspondent Shingi Mararike in Tenerife said the search “is perhaps a final push from the Civil Guard to make some kind of headway”.

Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared after trying to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus on Monday last week.

He was last pictured at Papayago, the nightclub hosting the end of the New Rave Generation festival, late on 16 June.

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Slater seen by cafe owner

After the event ended, he got in a car with two men, travelling to a small Airbnb in Masca, where a local cafe owner told Sky News he tried to catch a bus back to Los Cristianos, where he was staying.

Ofelia Medina Hernandez said she saw him at 8am on 17 June, and added: “He asked twice what time the bus came.

“He came back and he asked me again, and I told him again, at 10 o’clock. Later I got in my car, and I saw him, he was walking quickly, but I didn’t see him again after that.”

She said he was walking in the wrong direction.

Read more on Sky News:
‘My son went missing – I know how Jay’s parents feel’
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Jay Slater’s father describes ‘nightmare’ of son’s disappearance

Last phone call

It comes after one of Mr Slater’s friends told ITV’s This Morning about his last video call with the 19-year-old.

Brad Hargreaves said he saw the missing teenager’s feet slide on rocks during a call at around 8.30am, saying that is how he knew Mr Slater was not on a road.

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He then said Mr Slater went down a “little drop” in one of his last video calls, and added: “He said, ‘look where I am’.

“He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was. I said, ‘put your location on’. He said: ’15-minute drive, 14-hour walk’.

“I don’t know if it’s accurate or not so I said to him: ‘It’s only a 15-minute drive, get a taxi’.”

Search teams coordinated by the Civil Guard have since mounted a huge manhunt using helicopters, drones and search dogs to scour mountainous areas of the island, but are yet to find the teenager.