Drone footage has emerged of the painstaking search of a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue their hunt for missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague.

Eastern Daily Press: Corrie McKeague. Picture Suffolk Police.Corrie McKeague. Picture Suffolk Police. (Image: Archant)

A huge search by police, private investigators and the 23-year-old's family has so far been unable to find out what happened to him.

However part of the investigation focuses on the traced movement of Corrie's mobile phone, which matched that of a bin lorry known to have been in the Bury St Edmunds area the night he vanished.

As part of that line of enquiry a search of a landfill site near Milton in Cambridgeshire began yesterday.

In the last few days Suffolk Constabulary has placed additional significance on the search of the rubbish dump after new information came to light.

MORE: Search for missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague starts at Milton rubbish dumpIt was initially reported to police that the bin lorry linked with the investigation only carried a load of around 11kg, but recently this was revised to more than 100kg. A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice but was later bailed and will face no further action from police.

Despite claiming that the landfill site in Cambridgeshire was always an open line of enquiry, Corrie's mother Nicola Urquhart has revealed police released the site four months ago.

However, even though the landfill owners had been given legal permission to start piling rubbish back on top of the area where Corrie's body may have been dumped, it was only 'sheer luck' that it did not resume, Mrs Urquhart claimed.

She described how back in October 2016, around a month after her son disappeared, police rang to inform her the landfill site had been released as police were 'convinced' Corrie was not there.

Eastern Daily Press: Drone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc CreativeDrone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative (Image: Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative)

MORE: 'This can really – devastatingly – only mean one thing': Message from Corrie McKeague's mum as police search takes new twistWhen the police later announced the landfill search, Mrs Urquhart said it was explained to her that no waste had been piled on top through 'luck'.

'It was not by design that no more waste was piled on top,' she said. 'It is just luck. I think that the area may have already been full, but I was not told why.'

She said that they had led her to believe the site where her son may be buried was being used to dump waste again, despite her 'begging' officers to keep a hold on the rubbish site.

The search could cost up to £500,000 on top of the £300,000 already spent by Suffolk police.

Eastern Daily Press: Drone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc CreativeDrone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative (Image: Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative)

Detective Superintendent Katie Elliot said: 'Extensive enquiries have been conducted including searches in and around Bury, CCTV enquiries, witness enquiries.

MORE: Corrie McKeague: What we know about the disappearance of the RAF Honington serviceman, last seen in Bury St Edmunds in September 2016

'A search such as this is not entered into lightly and our enquiries to date have led us to believe there is a strong possibility that Corrie may have been brought [here].'

Eastern Daily Press: Drone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc CreativeDrone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative (Image: Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative)

Eastern Daily Press: Drone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc CreativeDrone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative (Image: Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative)

Eastern Daily Press: Drone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc CreativeDrone image of police searching a landfill site in Cambridgeshire as police continue to search for Corrie McKeague. Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative (Image: Picture Lee Blanchflower/Blanc Creative)