A troubled 13-year-old girl, who was missing since last week, has been found.

Chloe Jones had not been seen since leaving her home in Ilfracombe Road, Southend at 8.30am on Friday.

The teenager has run away before but has never been gone for more than a day. Her family fear the vulnerable youngster may have fallen in with a bad crowd and could be at risk.

Her worried mother, Lynn Jones, 40, has been scouring the streets for the teenager. She says she has had Facebook messages which she believes were sent by someone else.

She said: “We have been through a difficult patch, as parents do. She has been knocking about with some horrible people and we have had a few arguments.

“She is acting so out of character. I have been putting messages on Facebook to find her.

“I heard something from her on Facebook but she was using words she doesn’t use. I don’t think it was her. She was coming out with things she has never said to me in her life.” 

Officers say she was found by police and is now back with her family.