Police Search Lakes

Police started searching two lakes on Monday in an attempt to gain new leads in an 11-year-old murder hunt.

A specialist unit began searching the fishing lakes at Clive Vale Angling Club in Hastings, East Sussex, for the gun involved in the killing of Jimmy Millen in 2001.

The latest move comes after Sussex police said new evidence had come to light.

Mr Millen, 27, was shot as he worked on his car in Carpenter Drive, Hastings, on October 24, 2001.

The pillion passenger on a black motorbike fired shots from a handgun in the drive-by shooting.

Mr Millen was married with three children aged between eight and 11 when he died in hospital.

In 2001, police linked Mr Millen's death with the disappearance of another man in the town, Jason Martin-Smith, who was originally from Camberley in Surrey. That inquiry is also unsolved.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick May of Sussex and Surrey Major Crime Team said: "This is a new line of inquiry following some information recently received by us. We believed it was credible enough to set up this search.

"We are still appealing for any information about the case and there is a £10,000 reward put up by Sussex Police in 2001 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons or persons responsible for the murder of Jimmy Millen, which remains valid today.''

The dead man's widow Michelle Millen and son Jimmy Junior, said: "`We just hope this search bring some sort of result for us. We want answers and want to know who did this. Someone out there has information. We need closure. The last 11 years have been a nightmare.''

The search by divers is expected to last a week.