Rescue teams last night gave up any hope of finding alive two fishermen who went missing off the North-East coast.

Relatives of step-brothers Brian Allinson and Rob Temple were inconsolable as a flotilla of boats returned to North Shields quay yesterday after 24 hours of tireless searches.

Lifeguards said they were now fearing the worst after finding what is believed to be the brothers' trawler, the Jann Denise 2, some four miles off the coast.

The brothers, experienced fishermen, from Fencehouses, Houghton-le-Spring, were last spotted in their trawler on Wednesday afternoon.

Distraught fishing colleagues returned first, arriving back at North Shields Fish Quay yesterday afternoon after braving the stormy waters through the night in the hope that the pair were on a liferaft.

Family and friends were waiting on the pier, where Mr Temple's grey Peugeot car was still parked, for news from the dozens of returning crews.

But after finding what is believed to be the wreckage of the Jann Denise 2 around four miles out of the mouth of the Tyne, coastguard crews called off the search.

A crew from Tynemouth's RNLI team, the third to take part in the search, stayed out at sea with police officers even after the call to return. Mike Puplett, watch manager at Humber Coastguard, said last night: "We're investigating an object which has been detected by sonar on the sea bed in an area the Jann Denise 2 was seen.

"There has been wreckage seen around the area and also oil on the surface.

"Our assumption is that this is the vessel we are looking for and the search and rescue side of the operation has been terminated."

The 36ft boat was last seen following another vessel on its way back to the Tyne at 1pm on Wednesday. But the skipper of that boat raised the alarm when there was still no sign of the craft two hours later.

More than 40 fishing boats, along with RNLI lifeboats, coastguard crews and two RAF rescue aircraft, searched more than 1,200 square miles of water between the Tyne and Whitby for the boat.

Mr Temple, who is in his 40s, lives with wife Christine, two sons aged 18 and 12, and 18-month-old daughter in Chilton Avenue, Fencehouses. His brother is in his 20s. The family were too upset to comment at the fish quay yesterday.

Neighbour Tom Harding, 68, a retired Merchant Navy officer, said: "I really feel for the family, they are wonderful people. I was at sea myself for many many years so I know how uncertain things can be."

Paul Shone, of North Shields Fishermen's Mission, said yesterday that fellow fishermen were as upset as the brothers' family.

He said many were still clinging on to the hope that the two men had somehow found safety on a liferaft. "It's just a waiting game. Until things have been confirmed it's just wait and see," he added. RNLI spokeswoman Alison Levett said: "All crews have worked tirelessly, and despite the search being called off, the Tynemouth crew were still out at sea with police officers and sonar equipment, trying to trace the vessel."

Page 2: Community standing together in wait for news