THE family of an elderly man with dementia have praised the "excellent" police and public who helped find him when he went missing.

Michael Parrott, aged 86, was reported missing on Saturday, May 11 after his family could not find him at his home in Colwall.

Mr Parrott's son-in-law, Thomas Harris, 59, said: "He is a big man at 6ft4 and he is at the stage where he does go wandering at times – normally he wanders off into the garden but this time he managed to get out of the house.

"We looked all round the house and the grounds and there was no sign of him so we called the police. Their response was excellent and they were here within 10 minutes.

"They then put out a missing person appeal and it was shared by lots of people very quickly.

"It was great to see so many people lending a hand with sharing it on social media and joining the search. It seemed like we had the whole of Colwall Village out looking for him."

According to Mr Harris, more than 30 search and rescue personnel, along with police and residents of the village joined in the search, which lasted until 1am on Sunday before restarting at 11am the same day.

Mr Parrott was found on Sunday morning, in a woodland close to The Kettle Sings tea-rooms, by Natalie and Kevin Brace.

Mrs Brace said: "We walk our dog almost daily across the sheep fields near to the woods where we found Michael and we had decided to deviate off our normal route to have a good look around to see if we could see him.

"It was amazing when we came across him and an absolute miracle that he had managed to survive overnight."

From there Mr Parrott was treated by ambulance crews and assessed for dehydration as well as cuts and scratches from wandering the woods, before being taken to hospital in Hereford.

Mr Harris thanked everyone who got involved in the search, saying: "The response was wonderful from the police and emergency services as well as everyone on social media who shared the appeal.

"It is good that we had a story like this with a happy ending and we are so glad he was found safe.

"The time when he was missing was a very emotional and intense time for us, so we are all relieved that he was found.

"We would all like to thank the police and public for their help to find him."