VOLUNTEERS from the Rossendale Search and Rescue Team today joined the hunt for missing schoolgirl Hannah Black.
The 20-strong team has been on stand-by since Lancashire Police began to comb parts of the River Ribble yesterday and was called in to help resume with the search this morning.
The volunteers are searching from Sawley, in between Clitheroe and Gisburn, and making their way up towards the North Yorkshire border at Nappa.
Hannah, 13, and schoolfriend Rochelle Cauvet were swept away during a school trip near Settle on Tuesday night. Rochelle's body has since been found but Rossendale Search and Rescue team leader Dave Barrington told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph his volunteers remained hopeful of finding Hannah alive.
"We have to be optimistic, that is our attitude," said Mr Barrington. "Everybody is hoping that Hannah will turn up and we have to remain positive."
Mr Barrington, from Edenfield, in Rossendale, said his team would be conducting a "thorough search" of a 10km stretch of the river banks which could take up to 12 hours.
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