Gaia probe discovery near home

has asked me not to say anything. When he tells me that he has finished, I will let you know and give you a statement.”

Speaking as he returned to his home in Romsey, Hants, Greg said he had travelled to Poole to pick up Paul and take him to a solicitors. His son was then arrested.

Greg claimed: “It’s disgusting how the police have performed. I wanted to make sure Paul had legal representation before he was taken away.

“I asked Paul before he was arrested if he was all right. He said, ‘Yes, I’m fine’.

“He’s protested his innocence 110% and I have 110% belief that he will be released when they find out he has done nothing. My son is 110% innocent. We have tried our best to work with the police.”

Asked about the clothing discovery, he said: “Why the damned hell didn’t they find it a week ago? Swanage is a small place.” The women’s clothing was found by a walker some 218 yards from cliffs between Dancing Ledge and Anvil Point, south of Swanage.

The area is near a popular coastal walking route known as the Spyway, 1.8 miles directly south of Gaia’s village Langton Matravers.

Yesterday, forensic officers could be seen carefully cataloguing the scene. Two Coastguard teams covered the cliffs between Peveril Point, Swanage, and Dancing Ledge, while police scoured the ground and a police helicopter searched from above.

And officers were probing the four-second dashcam clip, captured at 11.35pm last Tuesday.

The last official sighting of Gaia was at 3.39pm, in Manor Gardens, Swanage. The footage appears to show a person wearing lightly coloured trousers similar to Gaia’s, leaning into the car’s window.

The driver who handed in the footage, who wants to remain anonymous, said: “It looked like they’d just been dropped off and they were saying goodbye. To stop on a main road, on a blind bend in the dark, it’s a strange place to stop.

“You can walk to Dancing Ledge over a footpath from that area. It’s not far.”

Yesterday Gaia’s dad Richard Sutherland issued a tearful plea to his daughter.

He said: “We love you. I want a big hug. We will get you back.”

Richard added: “The family is united with the police and public. I can’t tell you how grateful we are to everybody out there. Thank you everybody.”

Det Supt Paul Kessell, of Dorset Police, said: “Clearly the family are deeply concerned and they are living through an experience which we would all find extremely challenging.

“We will continue to support them, we will not stop until we find Gaia.

“There are a number of searches ongoing and these will continue for some time. We have no reason to believe Gaia has left the Swanage area.”