MISSING Haydon Wick man Christopher Mead returned to his family last night, calling off a search which had begun yesterday morning.

The family has thanked the public and media for spreading word of his disappearance and generating publicity which ultimately saw him return home.

A member of the public caught sight of Mr Mead between 10pm and 11pm last night and reported it to police, who picked him up and returned him home.

The 23-year-old had last been seen at 2am in the early hours of Thursday morning when his family reported him missing to Wiltshire Police at 8.36am.

Christopher’s sister, Ann-Marie Mead, 28, of Freshbrook, said: “They (her parents) have told me bits and bobs, but they just wanted to relay the fact he was found between 10pm and 11pm last night in Swindon.

“He’s back at home with my parents and he’s safe and well.”

Ann-Marie made her own plea for information on the whereabouts of her brother shortly before 8.30pm last night on Twitter.

Her Tweet was Retweeted 254 times, and it is that kind of interest she wanted to thank in finding her brother.

“We wanted to extend our thanks to everybody on Facebook and Twitter who put messages out,” she said.

“He’s got a lot of friends in Swindon. We were quite amazed at how many people we didn’t know were getting involved.

“We are really grateful to those who kept an eye out.”

The family has asked people to respect their privacy at this time.