THE fiancee of missing mountaineer Jeffrey Moore has today spoken of her belief that he is still alive - three weeks to the day since he disappeared in the Austrian Alps.

Marilyn Burt, 53, is clinging to the hope that her partner of 12 years may have hit his head, causing him to become disorientated.

Speaking from her home in Webb Road, Portchester, the mother of three said: "He may be suffering from amnesia or concussion and wandered out of Austria to one of a number of different countries.

"They say it's usually the case that even if they don't find a body, they find something like a piece of equipment.

"If he was still in the area they would have found him by now. He could quite easily have fallen and walked off the side of the mountain."

The couple were enjoying a fortnight's holiday and were staying in the resort of Heiligenblut when Mr Moore, an experienced walker, set off on a day trek alone.

The 37-year-old operations manager for a Gosport camping firm was reported missing when he failed to return to the hotel in the evening.

Last week a six-strong search party of Mr Moore's friends and family travelled to Austria to try and find him.

However, after returning home on Friday they are still no closer to finding out what could have happened.

Organiser Cliff Johnson said: "My conclusion is that I will be very surprised if Jeff got into trouble on that trek. It was too easy."

"The fact it was easy does make it more of a mystery where he has gone but we all still believe he's alive."

It is a race against time now for Austrian mountain rescuers searching for clues that will be buried when snow starts falling in November.

Mrs Burt added: "We have got to wait now, which is the hardest bit. It's the not knowing where he is and what he is doing, but there's nothing else we can do."