A pack of bloodhounds and their trainers have descended on a Hainault park to practise their skills in finding a missing person.

Handlers from Search Dogs Essex and InterNational Bloodhound Training held a practical training day at Hainault Forest, Fox Burrows Road, to help the teams from across the south east learn the principles of mantrailing.

The twelve dogs were taught how to search for a missing person after being provided with a “scent article”.

Once trained, the dogs are able to follow the scent up to several days after the person first went missing.

Site manager Tony Chadwick said: “Hainault Forest is ancient woodland, full of diverse habitats, which means it is well used by a wide range of different groups.

“We were only too happy to allow Search Dogs Essex to make use of the site and hope the training will be put to good use.”