Cops fear missing toddler Ben Needham was buried in a dusty olive grove after being ‘crushed by a bulldozer’

THIS is the dusty olive grove where cops fear missing Ben Needham was buried after being crushed by a digger.

The 2½-acre plot is beside the farmhouse on the Greek island of Kos where Ben was last seen aged 21 months in 1991.

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The scrubland has around a dozen olive trees surrounded by a low stone wall. It is one of two new areas being excavated by South Yorkshire police in the next few weeks.

Detectives are acting on information from a witness who claims local builder Konstantinos “Dino” Barkas accidentally killed the toddler and buried him in a panic.

He is said to have confessed before dying of stomach ­cancer last year aged 63.

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Dino had been clearing ground for restaurant owner Michael Troumouhis, 65.

Yesterday his son Stefano, 33, said: “The police called last week to ask permission to dig the olive field. I hope they find Ben alive and not buried here. I hope the family’s ­torment comes to an end.”

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Ben’s mum Kerry, 43, from Sheffield, has been told to expect the worst.

She has never given up hope of finding her son, who was in the care of grandparents Christine and Eddie in the village of Iraklis when he disappeared 25 years ago.

But Stefano added: “I don’t think Dino did it. It doesn’t make sense.”