A MASSIVE search for a British student nurse missing in Germany for more than a year has been launched.

Nearly 200 police officers are scouring land in Strassfeld, where 24-year-old Louise Kerton was staying with the family of her fiancee.

Louise's sister Fran, who works at the University of York and lives in the city, has campaigned since her disappearance for the police inquiry to be changed from a missing person investigation to a murder hunt. That happened earlier this year.

Her family said today they believed Louise, from Broadstairs, Kent, was dead. But they hoped the new search would give them certainty about what had happened.

Her father, Phil, said: "It is about time a search was conducted. It is the right thing to do, to go back and search the place where she was last seen. We have always said this should be done.

"If the police could assure us that they had made a very thorough search, it would be the first step forward for us in finding some answers."

Updated: 11:34 Wednesday, September 04, 2002