Items belonging to Hugo Palmer and Erwan Ferrieux found at Shelley beach near Port Macquarie

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A British tourist and a French tourist are missing at a beach on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

Personal items belonging to Hugo Palmer and Erwan Ferrieux were found by walkers on Shelley Beach, near Port Macquarie, 390km north of Sydney, at sunrise on Monday.

Their rental car, a silver Commodore, was later found in the car park containing other belongings, including travel documents.

A water and ground search began on Monday involving police and emergency services. It continued on Tuesday morning, but police said there had been no sign of the pair. The search was suspended as night fell in Port Macquarie on Tuesday evening and will resume first thing Wednesday morning.

The two men, both 20, are understood to have arrived in Port Macquarie on Sunday, and Inspector Michael Aldridge told the Port Macquarie News that the conditions in the water had been “terrible”.

“We know that they arrived in Port Macquarie on Sunday morning and we believe from information provided so far that the items may have been there since Sunday evening as well,” Aldridge told local media.

“Chances are exceptionally slim [of surviving in the water since Sunday]; the conditions yesterday and the day before were terrible.”

Palmer is described as 180cm tall, of caucasian appearance with fair hair and of athletic build, while Ferrieux is 175-180cm tall, has dark hair, brown eyes and a tanned complexion.

Police are appealing to anyone who might have seen the men or their Commodore near the Shelley Beach car park or in the surrounding streets to contact them.

Social media posts show the two men travelled to Australia in November, spending time in Melbourne and Sydney before travelling north.

Police have been in contact with Palmer’s family in Britain and have been updating French consular officials about Ferrieux, the ABC reported.

The both appear to have attended Sackville School, south of London.