FAMILY and friends of a Trowbridge man feared swept out to sea in Ibiza are to organise a charity bike ride in his memory.

Mark Garland, the father of missing Ben Garland, and Ben's best friend, Tom Eggleton, are planning a ride-out from Trowbridge to Poole in August.

They say the memorial ride on Saturday, August 15 is already being supported by the biking community across Trowbridge and beyond and will raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in Poole.

Mr Eggleton said: "We are in the process of organising the memorial motorbike ride, to be called the Ben Garland Memorial Run.

"We will be raising funds directly for the RNLI in Poole. Bikers of all abilities are welcome to take part."

Twenty-four-year-old Ben went missing on the Spanish island of Ibiza on January 21 after going out on his Harley Davidson 1200cc Sportster to video film waves to post on Instagram.

Mr Garland, 54, of Frome Road, Trowbridge, has just flown home from Ibiza without his Ben's body after staying there for three weeks while Spanish police and coastguards searched for his son.

He says he feels “empty and numb” after returning to the UK without him and added: "It's just a waiting game now. We are just waiting for news. We just want to bring Ben home."

Family and friends of Ben flew out to help look for him after he went missing following Storm Gloria in January.

Despite an extensive search by Spanish emergency services, the luxury superyacht crewman has not been found.

Mr Garland's bike was found by fellow crewmen after he failed to return from a ride out near the town of Portinatx to video the large waves and high winds battering the island.

Mr Garland found his son's watch a few days later not far from where he disappeared and his jacket containing his ID was also washed up onto the shore.

Speaking after landing at Bristol Airport last Friday, Mr Garland said he was “empty and numb with pain” in coming home without his son.

He said: “I know I said at the very beginning that I wouldn’t leave without him. I think my emotions were running very high then.

“It was getting tougher as the days went on with no news. We’re feeling lost.”

Mr Garland said he found himself talking to his son during the search. “I would just go off, I would look over the sea and talk to him.

“I kept saying, ‘Ben show yourself, please, we’re here, we want to take you home’.”

Last week, Mr Garland, his youngest son Jake, 22, and his two brothers, Kirk and Gary Garland, flew home from Ibiza via Seville.

The family are now waiting to hear back from the British Consulate in Spain, where officers have promised to give them an update every Friday.

The family are also planning a trip out to Ibiza to be in Portinatx on July 24 for Ben's 25th birthday.

"We plan to stand on the rocks close to where we know he disappeared and spread some flowers in the sea and reflect," he said.

Mr Garland said his family have been overwhelmed by support they have received from people in Ibiza and at home.

"We are very grateful to the crew of the yacht, the people in the bar at Portinatx, and to the people who have donated to the appeal to bring Ben home.

"It has been just amazing and has given us the strength and support we needed to carry on.

"The last few days out there were killing us with no news of Ben. We know 100 per cent that he is out there in the water.

"It's just the not knowing that is killing us all now. We just need to keep Ben's name alive so that he not forgotten. We hope to set up a charity in his memory to help the RNLI here at home."