Police searching for missing toddler Ben Needham on the island of Kos say they have uncovered items of “slight interest”, following an initial excavation of a site close to where he was last seen. The items found are said to have been fabric and bones believed to belong to a dog or other animal. Officers aim to establish whether the fabric found might be pieces of the clothes Ben had been wearing when he disappeared on the island on 1991.
A 19-strong team of South Yorkshire Police officers, forensic specialists and an archaeologist have been scouring an arid stretch of farmland where 21-month-old Ben was playing a quarter of a century ago.
Digger teams were brought in on Monday afternoon to break up the clay-like ground, following new evidence that the Sheffield toddler may have been killed and buried there, yards from where he vanished while his grandfather was renovating a property. A detective Inspector said that they were “ahead of schedule” in the probe into the disappearance and that he was pleased with the progress of the search.
The toddler was wearing a white and green shirt and a pair of leather sandals on the day he went missing  July 24, 1991. The items of fabric that are found have been forensically collected and photographs have been sent to colleagues back in the UK before a decision is made on whether they require further examination and testing.
Searches of the site, around two miles (3.2km) east of the Greek island’s historic town centre, are expected to last for at least a week.