A RELIEVED Carnforth mother has thanked police and villagers who helped find her missing eight-year-old daughter -- on a train 60 miles from home!

Pearl Wilkinson, of Haws Avenue, called in police just 10 minutes after her daughter, Amy, went missing in the village on Saturday afternoon.

A large scale search was launched immediately, with members of the local community joining the police in a concerted effort to track Amy down safely.

Within an hour, Amy had been located, on a train heading for Manchester, which she had somehow sneaked on to at Carnforth station.

Pearl takes up the story: "We had a very quick response from the police. A full scale search was started up in no time, with police and local people joining in. There were even people who I didn't know out searching for her.

"Due to the organisation of the police they had tracked her down within an hour.

"I would really like to thank the police and those people who joined the search and helped to find her. They say that nowadays community spirit does not exist any more. Well, it was here in Carnforth on Saturday."

Police used footage from CCTV cameras to trace Amy's movements, and they were able to collect her from the platform at Piccadilly Station in Manchester.

To the relief of her mother, Amy was returned home later in the afternoon.