The best friend of Rhys Jones spoke of his shock at the 11-year-old's death today, as police hunting for his killer searched woodland close to the murder scene.

Michael Edge, also aged 11, said he would miss the football-mad Liverpool youngster for the rest of his life and that his murder felt like "a dream".

"He was my best mate. And I miss him. And I’ll miss him for my whole life. I just always remember him. Me and him both, we always wanted to play footie," he told Channel Five News.

The youngster, whose father Tony coached the football team of which both boys were members, added that he no longer felt like going out to play without his friend by his side.

"I was more upset the next day because I was just shocked and it felt like a dream when I first heard it," he said. "It’ll be boring now, because he was the funniest person to play with out of all of them."

As he spoke, Merseyside Police confirmed that the Dam Wood area - which lies between the Croxteth Park Estate and Croxteth in Liverpool - had been sealed off and was being searched as a result of information received from the public.

Police would not confirm what officers were looking for in the woodland. It is thought that they may have had a tip-off about the location of the murder weapon.

Also speaking today, Michael’s mother Ann disclosed today that her husband had driven over to Rhys's house to break the news of the shooting.

After receiving a call at home revealing what had happened, she said that he had raced off to speak to his mother and drove her to the "horrific" scene.

Speaking about the 11-year-old's killer, she said: "They should just come forward. They shouldn’t be frightened because you know this kind of thing can’t happen.

"If everybody’s too frightened to say anything, then is this what life’s going to be like living in this country? You can’t just keep quiet. Somebody must know something."

Tonight Liverpool Football Club will take the unprecedented step of playing the theme tune of their greatest rivals, Everton, when the team emerges from the tunnel for their European Champions League game.

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