Piece of fabric found in search for Ben

Police searching for missing toddler Ben Needham on the holiday island of Kos have found information of “slight interest” – including fabric – following an initial excavation of a site close to where he was last seen.

A 19-strong team of South Yorkshire Police officers, forensic specialists and an archaeologist have been scouring an arid stretch of farmland where 21-month-old Ben was playing when he went missing on July 24 1991.

Digger teams were brought in on Monday afternoon to break up the clay-like ground.

It was day one of a fresh excavation at the site following new evidence that the Sheffield toddler may have been killed and buried there, yards from where he vanished while his grandfather was renovating a property.

Detective Inspector Jon Cousins, from South Yorkshire Police, said the team had made good progress in recovering potential evidence.

He said: “We found, as expected, a vast number of bones yesterday. Each one was examined immediately, and each one was discounted there and then as being an animal bone.

“There are some other items that are of slight interest – the odd piece of fabric. That is being analysed.”