A POLICE diving team was again preparing to search for a missing detective today -- seven months after he disappeared.

Albert Paxford, 40, of Quakerfields, Westhoughton, was last seen after he went on a dive with other members of Horwich Sub Aqua Club on October 6 last year.

He failed to surface with other team members following the 150ft dive to a wreck five miles off the Scottish coast near Burrow Head, Galloway.

A number of searches for the missing man have had to be cancelled in recent months as bad weather hampered a police dive team.

Last month the latest bid to search for the married father-of-two was called off at the last minute after weather forecasters predicted gale force winds.

But last night a Dumfries and Galloway Police spokesman said: "A Strathclyde diving team is currently in the Whithorn area, with a view to assessing the possibilty of a dive over the next three or four days." The dive team will have just 90 minutes -- in between tides -- to conduct a search of the area where Mr Paxford was last seen.

The missing detective's family have been kept informed of all the latest developments but have been too upset to talk about his disappearance.