THE brother of Liam Colgan has said a body pulled from a river in Hamburg is not his missing sibling  who vanished while on a stag night in the German city.

The 29-year-old from Inverness was on his brother Eamonn's stag weekend in Hamburg when he disappeared in the early hours of February 10.

Reports in the German media said a body has been pulled from the city's River Elbe, stating that both Liam and a sailor had gone missing in the city recently.

Eamonn Colgan said: "The police have contacted me and told me the body recovered from the river this morning is not Liam.

"I can't obviously say who they think it is and they have no reason to tell me but the description does not match Liam. We are putting a plan together about what areas we need to target next. Until we hear anything otherwise we can't give up the search and we have to remain optimistic."

A statement released through the Lucie Blackman Trust on behalf of Mr Colgan's family said: "We are aware of rumours circulating about discovery of a body in Hamburg.

"At this point there is nothing to suggest this has any connection to Liam Colgan. Therefore please continue to share and support the appeal."

The latest development comes after a worker at a bakery outside Hamburg spoke about an alleged sighting of Mr Colgan four days after he disappeared.

Thousands of posters have been put up around his last known location and his image has been spread across social media.

There are few clues to aid investigators and Liam’s bank account has not been active since he and his group arrived for the break.

However, a bakery worker has come forward claiming to have seen the man looking “lost and confused” nearby.

Bettina Diwinski said a colleague saw Liam at Dietz bakers in Buxtehude on Wednesday – four days after he vanished.

She told the Sunday Mail: “We saw a photograph of the man in the newspapers and we realised he had been here. One of my colleagues is certain she saw him.

“He looked lost and confused and then he left the shop. He looked lonely.”

She added: “We recognised he had been here. We called police and they came to take some information from us. They used the police dog to track the scent and we heard it went to the train station.

“We just hope he is found. It’s a terrible thing and we hope that he can be found safe.”

Her comments follow reports of other alleged sightings of Liam in Buxtehude, a town which lies around 15 miles south of Hamburg.

Liam’s brother Eamonn raised the alarm last Saturday, February 10, when he woke up and discovered his brother was not in the room they were sharing.

He had not been seen since he left the Veermaster bar in the Reeperbahn district of the city at about 1.30am.

He called police in Hamburg who have since been in contact with hospitals and taxi companies and have interviewed witnesses.

Search dogs have also been used and Liam’s picture circulated online and to media outlets.

On Saturday, Eamonn and other family members were given permission from football club Hamburg SV to hand out missing posters at their home game against Bayer Leverkusen.

Yesterday, flyers remained pinned to walls outside the bar where Liam became separated from the rest of the group. However, the hunt has been hindered as police cannot access CCTV from the bar where Liam was drinking – due to the manager forgetting the password.

Family members also criticised German police for their handling of the investigation.

In an interview with the BBC, Liam’s friend Alan Pearson accused officers of not treating the matter seriously and said that officers had given “mock replies” when his disappearance was first reported.