HOPES were fading yesterday for a hillwalker missing for the past three nights. Despite an extensive search, no trace was found of Dunfermline miner Samuel Sinclair, 37. Another search will resume today.

Mr Sinclair failed to rendezvous with a friend on Saturday night after saying he planned walking a route east of Ben Nevis from Glen Nevis to the Aonach Mor ski area.

A Northern Constabulary spokesman at Fort William police station where the search is being co-ordinated, said ''Obviously as time goes on our concern grows. But we have to keep an open mind, and people have been known to survive being lost in the Highlands for considerable periods in the past.

Mr Sinclair's wife, Kathy, and her father are staying in Fort William while the search continues.