Brit, 51, who was found in search for Jay Slater speaks out after Tenerife police claimed to have ‘rescued him’

The British man who was found in search for Jay Slater has spoken out after Tenerife police claimed to have ‘rescued him’.

The 51-year-old Scottish hiker, David Larkin, was discovered by local police and mountain rescue teams on Friday (21 June) while they looked for 19-year-old Jay who has now been missing for over a week.

The search for Jay Slater in Tenerife continues. (Handout by family)

Jay Slater disappeared after a night out on the Canary Island last week and was last heard from at around 8.00am on 17 June after telling a friend he was in the middle of nowhere and needed water.

The journey back to his resort would have taken around 11 hours on foot, yet no one has since seen or heard from Jay.

The Lancashire-born teenager had been enjoying a holiday on the Spanish island with two friends in the hours before he went missing, having flown to the Canary Islands for a music festival.

Speaking of the Scottish hiker, Spanish police took to Facebook writing: "Last Friday, agents of this Local Police in collaboration with the Civil Protection mountain rescue team, rushed to the rescue of a 51-year-old Scottish hiker, in the Asomada Canyon of the Los Carrizales neighborhood.

"Neighbors of the place, observed as said hiker entered from very early on through an area of difficult access not suitable for transit and after several hours passed without returning to the starting point, alerted the agents who were at those moments in the search for the missing young man, Jay Slater.

"Tired and disoriented he was located by the officers and rescue team who helped him get out of the ravine.

The 19-year-old has been missing in Tenerife for over a week now. (PA)

"We want to thank these neighbors for giving alert to this situation because due to the difficulty and lack of communication in the area, this hiker would not have managed to get out by his own means without the help received."

Since then, Mr Larkin has spoken out, telling MailOnline: "I can tell you now; I wasn't tired and I wasn't disoriented, and I didn't need rescuing.

"I think there was a lot lost in translation when they saw him and I explained to them I had water, I was wearing layers, I had my rucksack with food and I'm an experienced hiker.

"I went into the canyon and I saw the helicopters looking and thought they were looking for the lad but I didn't for one minute think they would end up picking me up.

"I think they want to show how good they are, but I certainly didn't saving. I feel so sorry for the boy's family and hope he's found soon.

"I'm actually embarrassed about this, I had my poles and I know what I'm doing and I knew that if it could get windy I would take shelter in a cave.

"I know these trails, I've been coming here for years, so I know what I'm doing."

Meanwhile, the search for Jay Slater has entered its ninth day, with Tenerife authorities having drafted in specialist search dogs from Madrid.

A police spokesperson said the dogs are 'specialised in the search for people on large areas of land'.

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