This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

Police searching for a firefighter who disappeared before Christmas have no indication as to where he went after he was last seen, according to an officer.

Anthony Knott, 33, from Orpington, Kent, disappeared on 20 December after going to a pub in Lewes, East Sussex, with friends.

He left The Lamb in Fisher Street at about 7.16pm and was captured on CCTV approximately half an hour later walking nearby.

DI Jon Gillings told BBC Breakfast police had no indication where he went on the night he went missing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anthony Knott. Photograph: Sussex Police/PA

He said: “We are focusing our search in the vicinity of the Pells, which is the direction he was last seen walking when he left the pub, but obviously there is now some additional CCTV which shows him heading in a different direction slightly later on at 7.40pm so we are also focusing a number of inquiries around that.”

When asked whether there was any indication of where he went, Gillings said there was not.

Flood waters in the area have made the search “challenging”, he said, adding that boats, dogs, drones and helicopters had been used to assist with the search.

It must be a “horrendous” experience for the family and specialist police officers were providing them with support, Gillings said.

Knott, who works for the London Fire Brigade, is described as white, approximately 6ft and of medium build, with medium-brown short gelled hair. He was last seen wearing a black long-sleeved top, a dark denim suit-style jacket, dark denim jeans and black shoes. He is also said to have a distinctive gait, with a slight bounce in his step.

CCTV footage previously released by Sussex police shows Knott walking through Lewes shortly after detectives say his phone had been switched off.