The Brazilian military has called off its hunt for the remaining bodies of passengers killed in the Air France jet crash.

Teams have recovered 51 bodies from the flight, which vanished on June 1 with 228 people on board, but officials say it is now inconceivable they will find any more.

Brazilian Air Force Colonel Henry Munhoz said: "The reason for this is the impossibility of finding survivors or bodies, which has always been the main focus of our search efforts."

However, French and American crews will continue to look for the black box flight recorders from the plane.

Five Britons were among those on the flight, one of whom has been formally identified as Graham Gardner, 52, from Gourock, Inverclyde.

In a statement released by his widow, Joyce, 51, she said: "Although the finality of being told Graham is no longer with us was a shock, I feel relieved and grateful that we are now going to be able to bring Graham home where he belongs."

Flight 447 disappeared from radar over the Atlantic Ocean whilst en route from Rio de Janiero to Paris, after entering a storm zone.

Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash and are still searching for the data recorders, which continue to give off signals for about 30 days.

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