OAP's call sparks police hunt

A 90-year-old woman sparked a nine-hour police hunt after making an emergency call saying she was trapped in a strange house.

The woman, who is believed to suffer from dementia, called West Sussex social services and left the message on the answer phone.

Sussex Police launched a major operation to find the woman and hundreds of volunteers were put on standby to help.

In her message the woman gave her age and said she had gone into a house to investigate a broken window but had been locked in when the door closed behind her.

No-one missing

But the only clue she left to her whereabouts was that the property was on the Brighton Road between Shoreham and Worthing in West Sussex near a parade of shops.

Social services called in the police who sought high level clearance to trace the call after checks were made which found no record of a missing pensioner.

The search was eventually called off after the telephone call was traced to an elderly people's home in Worthing where several residents suffer from dementia.

Staff at the home confirmed no-one was missing and it is still not known which of the residents made the call.