POLICE in Germany, who launched a murder hunt after an Abergavenny man's daughter disappeared in the country, have now compiled a report on their investigation.

Philip Kerton, who faces the third anniversary of his daughter Louise's disappearance on Friday, said he received news of the report a few days ago.

But Mr Kerton said he has been unable to find out the content of the report, which was passed to the State Prosecutor in April.

Mr Kerton, who now lives in Kent, told the Argus: "The State Prosecutor was given that report about Easter time and there is no news as to whether he has reached a decision or not, what action he will take or, indeed, what's in the report.

"Approaches have been made through the police and diplomatic channels and we will see if anything emerges in the next few weeks. "It's like watching paint dry and I'm not holding my breath."

Louise was 24 when she disappeared on July 30, 2001. She had been staying with her fiance Peter Simon near Cologne and had been due to catch a train to return to Britain - but she never arrived.

Her family spent a year lobbying German police to open a murder investigation before this eventually happened. Mr Kerton said: "The police were quite actively working on the case from about two years ago and about a year ago they moved up a gear, taking witness statements to confirm this and that.

"This continued up until November or December last year, then there was a hiatus when nothing was happening and now, finally, a report has been submitted."

Mr Kerton said he and his wife Kath would be spending the anniversary of Louise's disappearance, with relatives on the south coast "to get away from it all".