Raoul Moat sightings suggest fugitive remains near village

Police fear Raoul Moat could have been living under their noses in the village at the centre of Britain’s biggest manhunt.

As the search for the gunman entered its seventh day, alarmed members of the public reported seeing a man they were convinced was the fugitive gunman striding down the High Street in Rothbury where almost 200 armed police are searching for him.

The sighting came just three hours after Northumbria’s temporary Chief Constable Sue Sim told hundreds of worried villagers: “I’m not saying he’s going to be walking down the road with a gun.”

There was also evidence that Moat, 37, a nightclub doorman, may have been scrumping for tomatoes in local allotments to feed himself after a week on the run from three shootings 30 miles away.

Scores of armed police accompanied by dogs spent hours combing the area under helicopter searchlight after an intruder was seen running into a greenhouse in the early hours of Friday.

The intense police activity in Rothbury came hours after a walker discovered a mobile phone apparently abandoned by Moat in open ground outside the village.

It had not been used by him since Tuesday when two alleged accomplices were arrested in Rothbury and a tent found on a makeshift campsite he is thought to have set up in nearby woodland.

A mobile phone was earlier found in Birtley - where Moat is alleged to have shot his former girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, 22, and killed her new boyfriend Chris Brown, 29 – early on Saturday.

Another, used to make two 999 calls before and after Pc David Rathband, 42, was shot in his patrol car at East Denton on Sunday, has been recovered from an undisclosed location.

The three telephones could help police piece together vital information about his movements and anyone he may have had contact with while on-the-run.

A man and woman were arrested in Blyth, Northumberland, where he is thought to have robbed a fish and chip shop on Monday night, are now being questioned on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Two men have been remanded in custody accused of conspiracy to murder and possession of a firearm, and two other men have now been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

Police were first alerted to the sighting in the centre of Rothbury around 11pm on Thursday when a woman in her 30s saw a man she was convinced was Moat striding past her as she stood outside the village chip shop.

Moments later a man further down the street also saw the distinctive tall stranger and alerted two police officers.

Northumbria Police said there had been a night of “intense” activity in and around the village and confirmed that there had been a number of “potential sightings” of Moat.

They also disclosed that there had been a sighting of Moat in Rothbury on Monday which had now been corroborated with other evidence.

Armed police yesterday set up a cordon around the National Trust’s Cragside House, Gardens and Estate just over a mile away with a helicopter in support.

A £10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to his detention.

Karl Ness, 26, from Dudley in North Tyneside, and Qhuram Awan, 23, from Blyth in Northumberland, were remanded in custody at Newcastle maigistrates’ court on Thursday accused of joining Moat on a hunt for policemen to shoot.

Police believe Mr Ness and Mr Awan were with Moat when he shot Pc Rathband, but lawyers for the pair deny their clients were involved.