Online amateur sleuths glued to live webcam of Masca Valley in Tenerife where teenager Jay Slater vanished

The webcam has become a focal point in the search for Jay, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, who was reported missing on Monday morning.

A major search is under way on the Spanish island, with police dogs, mountain rescue teams and growing numbers of Jay's family and friends flying out to join search efforts.

The teenager was on holiday with friends and had attended the NRG music festival but disappeared after reportedly spending the night in a remote Airbnb with some people he had met.

For the latest Preston & Lancashire headlines in your inbox, sign up for the LEP newsletter.

The apprentice bricklayer was last heard from around 8.50am on Monday, when he told friend Lucy Law he planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus - a journey which would take around 11 hours on foot.

His disappearance has made national headlines in the UK and many Brits eager to help find Jay have have joined a Facebook group set up by his family and friends.

‘Jay Slater Missing - Only Official Group’ now boasts 375,000 members and many are glued to a live webcam with a view of a winding road in a mountainous area of Tenerife near Jay’s last known whereabouts.

The webcam shows the Masca Valley in Teno Rural Park - a vast, sun-scorched wilderness in the north-west of the island.

Some amateur sleuths have found themselves glued to the webcam which includes a view of the TF-436 - the zig-zagging road Jay would likely have followed on a long trek back to his accommodation.

One member of the group said: “I’ve now focused on the road. I’ve edited the timelapse & slowed down any/all activity in that 24 hour period.

“I’ll let someone with better eyesight scrutinise I can’t take my eyes off the Masca webcam!

“Been staring at it for hours thinking somehow he’s just gonna dander down them steps. Stranger things have happened.”

Some believe they might have caught a glimpse of the missing teenager while watching a timelapse of the webcam, with eagle-eyed viewers spotting a person walking along the road the day Jay disappeared.

Others have drawn attention to cars and vans driving along the remote route as they seek witnesses who might have passed Jay on that fateful morning.