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Hikers in the US have found human remains near the area where British actor Julian Sands disappeared.

Identification should be completed next week, the San Bernardino County sheriff's department in south California said on Saturday.

Sands, 65, disappeared on 13 January while hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains, north of Los Angeles.

He is best known for his roles in the Oscar-winning film A Room With A View, and the TV dramas 24 and Smallville.

His other credits included 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in which he appeared opposite Daniel Craig.

Sands, born in Otley, West Yorkshire, disappeared in the Baldy Bowl area during bad weather.

"Civilian hikers contacted the Fontana Sheriff's Station after they discovered human remains in the Mt Baldy wilderness," the sheriff's department said.

The statement gave no other details.

Sands's family issued a statement early this week expressing gratitude "to the search teams and coordinators who have worked tirelessly to find Julian".

"We continue to hold Julian in our hearts with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer," they said.