POLICE are searching for a missing 11-year-old who left the area unexpectedly.

Officers searching for the boy who has gone missing in Poole are appealing for help from the public to find him.

Joseph, aged 11, was last seen at 2.45pm on Wednesday, August 17 at Poole Retail Park in Redlands. He left the area unexpectedly in the direction of Poole Road.

Joseph is described as white, four feet ten inches tall with blond curly hair. He was last seen wearing a pewter-coloured Adidas T-shirt, long black shorts and grey sliders.

Inspector Craig Tiernan, of Dorset Police, said: “Joseph has been missing for a few hours now and officers are carrying out searches of the area in a bid to locate him.

“I would ask anyone who has seen Joseph, or a boy matching the description given, to please urgently contact police with any sightings or information.”

Anyone with information or knowledge as to Joseph’s whereabouts is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk/contact or by calling 101, quoting incident number 17:535.