A WEEK-long search for a car believed to have gone over the cliff at Burton Bradstock has been stepped up.

Police and coastguards were initially alerted after debris and a damaged bollard were discovered at the top of the cliff on Sunday October 28, but the car has not been found.

Sophisticated detection equipment has now been called in to help with the search.

Dorset police western division Chief Inspector Nick Maton said the debris found was not enough to make the car undrivable and police were keeping an open mind.

Police accident investigators examined the scene at the top of Cliff Road and found tyre marks to the edge of the cliff and more debris and oil from a car in the sea.

Since the middle of last week the search has involved the police's own marine unit, divers from Avon and Somerset, the police helicopter, the coastguards and contractors working on the Napoli.

Divers have been conducting systematic underwater searches in pairs with a rope between them and the search will continue until at least tomorrow (Thursday) said Chief Insp Maton.

"We intend to widen the search area and employ more sophisticated search equipment," he added.

He said so far sonar searches had been unsuccessful and they would now be using detectors that could distinguish between metal and rock, as well as underwater robotic cameras.

With help from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and its tide predictions the search is being widened to the east of where the vehicle is believed to have entered the water.