The search to find a doctor from St Albans who went missing in the French Pyrenees has been called off.

Tom Doherty was hiking and camping near Col d’Escots when his family lost contact with him on Tuesday, August 6.

The family of the 67-year-old last heard from him at 19.07pm via WhatsApp, when he sent messages asking for "help" and told them he had "fallen and could not move".

Efforts to locate him involved sniffer dogs and a helicopter, but searches were hampered by poor visibility.

Tom Doherty with his wife, Anne Lyons.Tom Doherty with his wife, Anne Lyons. (Image: Family Handout/PA Wire)

Today (August 12), the prosecutors office in Foix told AFP that operations "have been suspended", but an investigation into his disappearance would continue.

"After five days, we haven't managed to find him," a representative said.

Mr Doherty's family flew to France to help the search, having "panicked" following his WhatsApp messages, according to his wife Anne Lyons.

"We panicked. When I arrived in France, I hoped that they had found him and that we would be in the hospital," she said.

"He was sending us a few pictures of the scenery and then on Tuesday afternoon sent us one of clouds coming over the top of a mountain. He said ‘bugger’," his daughter, Rachel, continued.

"We told him to be careful and urged him to come down.

"We’re obviously very worried and extremely concerned for his welfare."

The last messages Tom Doherty sent to his family.The last messages Tom Doherty sent to his family. (Image: Family Handout/PA Wire)

The family are now desperately trying to access his Apple account to try and pinpoint his location, according to a post from his niece, Kat Waterhouse.

"We desperately need to access his Mac laptop which has been locked as we have tried his passwords too many times," she said.

"We need to get into it so that we can look at the last location of his last photos on iCloud and try and get into his Find My."

According to his family, the retired doctor was a respected consultant of Tropical medicine who worked around the world and specialised in Malaria.

Since retiring almost a decade ago, he has spent most of his time in France.