RICHARD PARR The family of missing Norfolk holidaymaker Lucy Gutteridge last night spoke of their relief that she has been found in central London.

RICHARD PARR

The family of missing Norfolk holidaymaker Lucy Gutteridge last night spoke of their relief that she has been found in central London.

The disappearance of 24-year-old special-needs children's worker from a north Norfolk camping site a week ago sparked an extensive air, sea and land search.

Lucy was found yesterday afternoon opposite the Houses of Parliament and taken to St Thomas's Hospital.

But the mystery of her disappearance remained last night. It was unclear how long she has been in London and her precise state of health.

Her father, 59-year-old Paul Gutteridge, told the EDP of his relief that his daughter was alive.

"We are so relieved that Lucy has been found alive and is safe but we are, of course, concerned for her health and wellbeing," he said.

The family, including her mother Sue, brother Tom and her partner Dave Mordue, with whom she was holidaying in Norfolk, were making arrangements to visit Lucy in hospital.

Mr Gutteridge also said he wanted to say a heartfelt thank-you to the people of Norfolk, including the police and other emergency services.

"We want to say a big thank- you to everyone who helped in the search.

"The people of Norfolk have been absolutely fantastic and they have shown us such kindness," said a tearful Mr Gutteridge.

The circumstances surrounding how Lucy was found or where she has been since walking away from the High Sands Creek caravan park at Stiffkey early on Wednesday remained a mystery last night.

Police had admitted they were baffled by her disappearance because there had been no positive reported sightings of her in Norfolk despite a number of public appeals to taxi drivers and commercial and private motorists.

Following her partner reporting her missing from Stiffkey at 6am on Wednesday, there was an extensive search of the area involving helicopters, lifeboats, tracker dogs, officers on foot and coastguards along the coast.

Yesterday afternoon, it was decided to send the police helicopter into the air again for a second sweep of the north Norfolk coastline.

Lucy's parents and brother had returned to north Norfolk at the weekend to carry out their own searches in a desperate attempt to find her.

Mr Gutteridge had revealed to the EDP that his daughter was suffering from a depressive illness and he felt this had probably become worse over her concerns about a possible promotion at work.

She was on medication but had left this behind when she walked away from the Stiffkey site where she had been camping with Mr Mordue.