A close friend of missing Pat Lamb has recounted for the first time events leading up to his disappearance.

Henry Durban-Haskins was with Mr Lamb on the night he vanished and says he last saw his pal heading for a nightclub dancefloor.

The 28-year-old was expected at another bar nearby but never showed up, it has emerged.

Mr Durban-Haskins and Mr Lamb were part of a tight social group who had cemented their friendship at Canterbury College more than a decade ago.

They had only recently lost a mutual friend – Canterbury student Rob Butler – who died suddenly in November.

And shortly before serving as pallbearer at his pal’s funeral, Mr Lamb was dealt a second blow when his nephew was diagnosed with leukaemia.

Mr Durban-Haskins says he and another friend were on a night out with Mr Lamb in Maidstone town centre when he vanished late on Friday, December 12.

The group had visited a number of bars and had a hotel booked.

Mr Durban-Haskins, 28, said: “We were in Bar Chocolate. Pat wandered off towards the dancefloor but we stayed at the bar.

“We were heading on to The Source Bar. We looked around for Pat but couldn’t find him.”

Assuming Mr Lamb would turn up at the next bar, Mr Durban-Haskins and the other friend headed on.

When Mr Lamb failed to materialise, the friends were not concerned.

“We didn’t panic. Pat, especially, is known for wandering off on nights out and turning up later,” said Mr Durban-Haskins.

“I’ve been out with him thousands of times. He’d disappear then turn up later and tell us about his adventures.

“We really started to worry the next morning when we had to check out of the hotel at 11am.”

Mr Durban-Haskins, who has given a statement to police, said there had been nothing to mark that night out from any other.

“Pat was no more drunk than he’s been before,” he said.

“There was nothing in his behaviour to suggest anything different or out of the ordinary. He was in good spirits.”

Mr Durban-Haskins said that Mr Lamb was going through a difficult period at the time of his disappearance.

Early in November their mutual friend Mr Butler, a masters student and popular barman at Canterbury’s Jolly Sailor pub, had been found dead in his bed.

Mr Lamb, Mr Durban-Haskins and Mr Butler had been good friends since their first lesson of sport and PE at Canterbury College.

Just a fortnight after Mr Butler passed away, Mr Lamb’s two-year-old nephew Harry – son of Mr Lamb’s brother Jamie – was diagnosed with leukaemia.

Mr Durban-Haskins said: “He was going through a tough time. He had lost Rob. He was a pall-bearer at his funeral. He was grieving. And he’s very close to his brother too so the news about his nephew hit him hard.”

Mr Lamb’s parents, his sister and girlfriend Natasha are maintaining a daily search in the Maidstone area.

A fresh search was also due to be mounted today by Kent Search and Rescue and police.

It follows a trawl of the River Medway yesterday as the hunt for Mr Lamb continues for a third week.

Police sent a specially trained sniffer dog out on a boat with handlers along a stretch of water by Lockmeadow in Maidstone.

Now Kent Search and Rescue has revealed this search identified "several areas of interest".

Today another water rescue team will be sent out on the Medway and police divers will search several locations in the river from around 10:00am.

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The development came as it was revealed that a new CCTV image of Mr Lamb and a witness placed him crossing the river near Fairmeadow at 12.20am.

A previous apparent sighting of Mr Lamb, from Greenhithe in north Kent, had drawn a blank.

A person matching his description was spotted walking along the edge of the M2 coast-bound in the early hours of Saturday, December 13.

Police reviewed footage from the section of motorway at the specified time but unfortunately were unable to pick up any leads.

Mr Durban-Haskins, who used to live in Whitstable Road, Canterbury but has since moved to Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, said the mystery has hit the group of friends hard.

“We’re devastated, numb. We’re not a massive group of friends but we’re very close. For this to happen – there aren’t words,” he said.

He said he had been relieved when a police search of the River Medway had yielded nothing.

“Where he is now, I don’t know,” said Mr Durban-Haskins. “He’s either gone off or come to harm. Hopefully he’s somewhere and doesn’t want to be found at the moment.”

“We’re devastated, numb. We’re not a massive group of friends but we’re very close. For this to happen – there aren’t words" - Henry Durban-Haskins

Mr Durban-Haskins also said the police appeared to be working hard to find his friend.

“I can’t believe there wasn’t better CCTV. Some wasn’t working. Some was bad quality. It took them [the police] a while to get going.

“But they’ve searched by air, with sniffer dogs. It’s easy to blame the police, but they seem to be doing all they can.”

He added he was completely mystified by the disappearance.

“My gut feeling – I really don’t know.

“Honestly, as Pat’s family said, we hope for the best and fear the worst.”

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