THE father of a Trowbridge man missing in Ibiza says he is now preparing himself “for the worst” after search and rescue teams found his son’s jacket and ID floating in the water.

Helicopters, drones and a civil coastguard vessel have been scouring the sea off Ibiza for 24-year-old Ben Garland who went missing on Tuesday.

His father Mark Garland says the finding of the jacket means his son is now likely to have not survived being swept into the sea following Storm Gloria hitting the Balearic Islands earlier this week.

Mr Garland said: “I am struggling. It has been the saddest two days of my life. They found Ben’s jacket and ID in the water yesterday afternoon about a 1,000 feet offshore.

“He is gone. It’s so cold out here, he would have died from hypothermia. It’s been three days now and the police are just waiting for his body to come back to the surface.”

The 112 emergency services in the Balearic Islands activated a search on Tuesday after Ben failed to return from a ride out on his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Mr Garland, of Frome Road, Trowbridge, disappeared in the Portinatx area of the municipality of Sant Joan de Labritja (Ibiza).

Rescue workers believe the boat crewman may have fallen into the sea during Storm Gloria while visiting the coast to film waves crashing against the shore.

The whole family and friends have flown out to Ibiza to help Spanish search and rescue teams look for Mr Garland.

They include Mark, 54, and younger brother Jake, 22, plus his two sisters, Charlotte,36, and Leanne, 34, and several of Ben's friends, Tom Eggleton, Tyler Munn, Rory Larsen-Barker, Jamie Steer and Matthew Tanner.

Mr Garland, a First Bus bus driver, added: “There’s nine of us here now and four or five more people wanted to come out and help.

“We are having to say no to them. We’re not being rude or disrespectful. It’s just that there would be too many.”

Mr Garland said he and his family are being buoyed by the support and sympathy from family, friends and well-wishers.

“The outpouring of love for Ben has been amazing. He made such a big impression on everybody’s life. Everywhere he went, he had friends. Everyone loved him.

“When they find him and we bring him home, his funeral is going to be massive. There will be so many people there.”

Mr Garland also thanked everyone who has donated to a justgiving appeal set up by a former colleague and friend Anthony Dennison to raise £2,000 to help find Ben.

The appeal has already smashed through its target and has now raised over £4,000 which, Mr Garland says, they will put towards bringing Ben home and paying for his funeral.

Mr Garland is a former pupil of St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon. He studied engineering at Wiltshire College.

He travelled to Spain in April last year to look for work and later joined a seven-strong crew on a luxury 47-metre superyacht in the Balearic Islands.

The northern part of Ibiza has been lashed by Storm Gloria, which has caused an intense swell that has led to the cancellation of all maritime connections from the island.

After the storm subsided, it is understood Mr Garland went out on his motorcycle to video the waves crashing against the rocks.

The alert was raised by the boat’s captain who called the emergency services when Mr Garland did not return. His bike was found in Cala Portinatx.

The search is being carried out both by land, with agents of the Civil Guard, Civil Protection and local police, and by sea, with a Civil Guard vessel.

To donate to the Ben Garland appeal fund, go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/anthony-dennison-1