The father of missing RAF man Corrie McKeague has made the heartbreaking confession that he is “just existing” six months into the search for his son.

Martin McKeague, 48, said he “just never imagined” being in the position that he is after Corrie vanished last year.

Corrie, 23, a Royal Air Force Regiment gunner from Fife, went missing in the early hours of 24 September 2016 in the Bury St Edmunds area of Suffolk in England.

“It’s just utterly heartbreaking and I don’t wish this on anybody,” Martin told STV News.

“I don’t even know where the time has gone, I’m kind of just existing. I’m trying day by day to get through this mess,” he added.

A bin lorry was seen on CCTV near Brentgovel Street in the town at around the time Corrie was last seen.

The vehicle then appeared to take a route which coincided with the movements of Corrie’s phone, sparking fears he somehow ended up in a bin that was then picked up by that lorry.

An area of a landfill site in Milton, Cambridgeshire, where the load was deposited has been under intense scrutiny for almost three weeks now, in a search that could last up to ten weeks.

Martin recently praised the search team for getting onto “their hands and knees” as they continue to search for his son.

He said: “These police officers are managing to sift through 80 tonnes of rubbish per day, sometimes on their hands and knees, to ensure no detail is missed.”

On Friday, it was confirmed the search team trawling the site has been through more than 845 tonnes of waste.

Corrie’s mother Nicola has previously said she was “terrified” of what the search team might find.

She added it would be “quite unrealistic for me to presume Corrie could still be alive,” but said “thinking that and believing it are two completely different things.”

A bin lorry linked to the disappearance was initially thought to have collected an 11kg (1st 10lb) load, but police said it was later found to be more than 100kg (15st 10lb).

Nicola has said this could “only mean one thing.”