DNA testing will be used in a bid to establish the identities of a couple who disappeared after they went kayakking off the coast of Jersey.

Jersey police believe the couple, who had been using the names Andrew Keeble and Hannah Tye and claimed to live in Burnley, are still alive and the details given are false.

While the disappearance is not being treated as suspicious, officers are keen to identify the pair by running any DNA found on their possessions against police database.

The couple left behind the belongings at the Rozel Campsite where they were staying the week before the disappearance.

The last time the two were seen they were believed to have been about to set to sea in an inflatable kayak from Rozel Bay on Friday August 11.

Identity checks have failed to turn up any passports issued to people with the names they had been using.

Inquiries at the home the couple said they lived in at Healey Wood Road, Burnley, have also drawn a blank with the owners of the rented property saying they had never heard of them.

Insp Dave Burmingham (CORR), from Jersey police, said: "We have completed our inquiries and there are no people with those names.

"The two did not hold a UK passport so either they have given false details or they do not have passports.

"We are satisfied that they are still alive because no debris or bodies have washed up.

"The only thing we can do is to get DNA testing and see if we can identify them if they are on the police database.

"We are not treating this as suspicious but are more concerned for their welfare.

"We are treating it as an accident rather than a criminal matter."

Police have also not been able to establish whether a couple fitting their description, seen hauling a kayak on to a beach about five miles north of Carteret, in Normandy, France, the morning after their disappearance, were the missing pair.

A full air and sea search also failed to locate any items that might be linked to them.

Police have not had any reports of people missing with those names and have been unable to check any phone or banking records.