Police have launched a major appeal to find a Royal Ballet School pupil who disappeared from hospital wearing no shoes in the severe weather.
Ashleigh Fair, 19, left the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Berkshire, at 9.30am today as the temperature plummeted to -5C.
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The alarm was immediately raised by nursing staff who spotted the classically trained dancer on the hospital’s CCTV.
She had been a patient at the hospital for 36 hours.
Ashleigh, a pupil at the Royal Ballet School, vanished wearing just track suit bottoms, a knitted pink and green jumper and a pair of pink socks.
It was snowing heavily at the time with more than an inch of powdery snow blanketing the pavements and roads.
Dozens of police officers were drafted into the town centre to search for Ashleigh in the freezing weather.
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said officers were particularly concerned for her because she was not dressed appropriately for such severe conditions.
Detective Sergeant Emily Evans, said: ‘We are very concerned for Ashleigh’s wellbeing.
‘She is vulnerable and unwell and we are also concerned that she is not wearing appropriate clothing for the weather.
‘I would ask anyone who sees her, or has any information which they think could lead to us locating her, to please call us on 999.’
A nurse on Ashleigh’s ward first spotted she had gone missing from her bed just after breakfast and alerted senior staff.
CCTV footage showed images of the missing girl leaving the hospital by the entrance.
Anyone with information relating to this case are asked to call 101 quoting reference ‘URN 344 (1/3)’, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously.
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