A LIFEBOAT was searching the river Usk in Newport and Caerleon this morning for missing Argus worker Ben Caplan, who was last seen on December 7 on a night out with friends.

The search for Mr Caplan, 30, of Bond Street, Newport, has been continuous since that time, with numerous unconfirmed sightings reported to the police and hundreds of posters distributed across Gwent, including on Newport buses, on notice boards around the civic centre and in a number of pubs in Caerleon, including the Hanbury Arms and Bolero's Bar where Mr Caplan was last seen.

Mr Caplan, who works in circulation at the Argus' Newport office, was last seen shortly before midnight on December 7 in Caerleon after a night out with friends.

His wife Danielle reported him missing the next day when he failed to return home.

Mervyn Fleming of Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) confirmed this morning that Lifeboat 3 was searching the River Usk between Caerleon and Newport city centre for Mr Caplan.

"The tide is ebbing so we have limited time," he said. "We will continue our search as far as Caerleon then run back down."

Friends, colleagues and members of the public have joined searches in Newport, Crickhowell where a sighting was reported, and Caerleon in an attempt to find Mr Caplan, as well as making a television appeal on the six o'clock evening news.

On Friday Pontypool RFC joined the campaign to help find him, with posters displayed in the ground’s ticket office and patrons entrance, while a full-page poster was included in every programme for Saturday's SWALEC Championship fixture with TATA Steel RFC.

They followed in the footsteps of Newport RFC who also broadcast a message over their tannoy system on December 14.

Almost 7,000 people have liked a Facebook page called "Help Find Ben Caplan" and South Wales Argus editor Kevin Ward has made appeals on local radio stations.

Mr Caplan lives with Mrs Caplan and six-month old son Jude and five-year-old step-son Evan and is described as white, 5ft 9ins tall, of a slight build with shoulder-length straight brown hair. He has tattoos on both arms as well as his back and chest.

He is originally from Glasgow and has a Scottish accent. Anyone with any information is asked to call Gwent police on 101 quoting log 295 08/12/13.

Posters of Mr Caplan can be downloaded from the Argus website.