A NINE-WEEK search for a missing Huddersfield man has ended in heartbreak.

Police confirmed they have found the body of Bradley pensioner Bernard Hallas, a father of four.

Mr Hallas, 84, went missing in his pyjamas, sheepskin coat and hat on December 18.

Now his body has been found in woodland between Athene Drive and Squirrel Ditch in Newsome.

One of his daughters, Andrea Gill, said she was told by police that he was found by two children walking their dog.

Police officers had been making repeated searches of land in the Newsome and Taylor Hill areas.

They had been making regular searches of woods and fields throughout the area, as Mr Hallas was known to have visited friends there in the past.

Mr Hallas, who had been suffering from ill health, had left his home a week before Christmas.

It is thought he may have been trying to make his way to Meltham, where one of his daughters lives, but he boarded a bus to Marsden by mistake.

He stayed on the bus when it reached Marsden and returned to Huddersfield Bus Station.

Staff tried to help him, but he was last seen walking away down High Street and Marsden Street in the direction of Wakefield Road.