By Ed Mezzetti

RELIEVED staff at a Westbury children's home have welcomed back a missing teenager who was found safe and well on Thursday.

Police located 13-year-old Natisha Toole in Trowbridge town centre, just after 5pm, following a phone call from a member of the public.

Her discovery brought an end to almost three days of extensive searching, which had left police increasingly concerned about the girl's safety.

Although under the care of Birmingham City Council social services, Natisha has been living at the privately-run children's home for almost a year.

Police believe she went missing of her own will

from the home, which cannot be named for legal reasons,

at around 11.30pm on January 5.

But after a local search failed to find the teenager, who was described as 'vulnerable', police launched a large-scale operation involving

officers from all over west Wiltshire.

Descriptions of Natisha were circulated across the police division, which ranges from Warminster to Wootton Bassett.

Inspector Ian Copus was on duty at the time

the girl went missing and

co-ordinated the search alongside Sergeant Glynn Ashforth.

With fears escalating

further, police made a public appeal for information on Thursday in the hope that someone may have spotted the 5ft 4in teenager. This proved successful as Natisha was found just hours later.

Police spokesman Steve Drage said: "A supervising officer took control of the inquiry and held a strategy meeting. There were a

number of actions that came from that for other officers to carry out.

"The age of the person made her more vulnerable than perhaps if she had been an adult. We were very anxious to locate her.

"In these cases, inquiry work doesn't just stop at 5pm, it can go on through the night. But police involvement stopped when the girl was found.

"We were obviously very pleased the operation ended successfully."

Due to the sensitive nature of the case, the children's home declined to comment, except to thank everyone involved in finding Natisha.

A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: "We are extremely relieved that Natisha has been found safe and well and we are grateful to anyone who came forward with information."

Birmingham social services has a long association with the home in Westbury, which specialises in the rehabilitation of young females with behavioural problems.

Limited resources mean police are not able to

prioritise all missing persons cases.

An alternative source of information is the National Missing Persons Helpline, which can be contacted on 0500 700700 or by visiting www.missingpersons.org

emezzetti@newswilts.co.uk