Less than 24 hours after flying in from London, the father of a British backpacker who is missing in the Australian bush today joined the search for his son by taking an emotional helicopter flight over the Sydney mountain range where the teenager was last seen.

Richard Cass joined more than 60 police search and rescue crew in Sydney’s Blue Mountains where his son, 19-year-old Jamie Neale, went missing after embarking on a bushwalk seven days ago.

Mr Neale, who has been described as a nature lover, had arrived in Australia on June 22 as part of his first overseas trip. He had spent most of the past year working as a laboratory assistant in London to save up for the trip.

Mr Neale was last seen leaving a backpacker hostel in Katoomba last Friday morning, heading out for a walk in the picturesque, but extremely rugged, surrounding mountains, about 70 miles (100km) west of Sydney.

He had arrived in Katoomba, the main village town in the mountains, the previous night. He paid for a trip on Saturday to the nearby Jenolan Caves, but he did not turn up.

Mr Neale's belongings, including his mobile phone, were discovered at the hostel on Saturday and staff reported him missing to police.

After interviewing hostel staff and other tourists, police established that Jamie had gone for a bushwalk to watch the sunrise on Friday morning. He had then planned to out again to an area known as the Ruined Castle walk at Mount Solitary.

CCTV footage shows him leaving the hostel, dressed in jeans and a dark fleece top, carrying a burgundy backpack and what appears to be a map.

The ruined castle area, considered an "easy day walk" from Katoomba, features an outcrop of large boulders which gives a panoramic 360-degree view of the surrounding bushland and sandstone plateaus.

Scores of police, search and rescue and other emergency crews have since used helicopters, police dogs, 4WD vehicles and trail bikes to search the hundreds of square miles of rough terrain for any sign of the teenager.

The Blue Mountains police commander in charge of the search told The Times that crews had been hampered by the bad winter weather — including thick fog and intermittent rain — but would continue at first light on Saturday.

“We are going to start looking in creeks and the surrounding areas up there tomorrow,” Acting Superintendent Mick Bostock said. “At this stage, after seven days in that weather, we have real concerns for his safety, but we’re still hopeful.”

Mr Cass arrived in the Blue Mountains today and was immediately given a briefing by police. He was then taken up in a helicopter over the mountain range.

Mr Cass said he believed that his son, an experienced hiker, would be able to survive the cold conditions. Overnight temperatures have dropped to near freezing this week. “He’s very tolerant of cold and if anybody can survive this, he will,” he said.

Mr Cass, who was born in Victoria but moved to Britain in the 1950s, will be joined tomorrow by other family members, including his brother who is flying in from Perth, Western Australia.

Back home in North London, Mr Neale’s mother, sister and older brother are eagerly awaiting news. His sister Clair said Mr Neale had planned to go to Australia to visit family and to explore the culture and the country. She added that he was very sporty, fit and resourceful.

“He reads a lot and is always wanting to find things out about how to survive,” she told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. “He even bought a solar battery for his phone and would have had local maps.”

His older brother Gary told the newspaper that Jamie’s love of the outdoors would have drawn him to the mountains. “He was into nature walks and the Blue Mountains would have greatly appealed to him,” he said.

The Blue Mountains is a World Heritage site which consists of seven national parks and conservation reserves, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in New South Wales.

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