A Wickford backpacker missing in New Zealand was last seen at a hotel with a "male companion", police said.

Grace Millane, who turned 22 on Sunday, has not been heard from since December 1 after arriving in Auckland less than two weeks earlier as part of a round-the-world trip.

Her father David Millane made an emotional appeal for help in finding his "outgoing, fun-loving" daughter as police said they held "grave fears" for her safety.

"We now have the last known sighting of Grace at 9.41pm at the Citylife Hotel, on Saturday 1 December with a male companion," said Detective Inspector Scott Beard, of Auckland City Police.

"Police have identified this man and he has been spoken to."
Mr Beard said officers had also identified an apartment at the city centre hotel as a location of interest.

READ MORE: All we know about the days and hours before Grace Millane's disappearance

"It has now been six days since Grace was last seen," he added.

"At this point, we hold grave fears for her safety."

He added that they "still have no evidence of foul play".

Mr Millane arrived in New Zealand on Friday morning and told reporters it was unusual for his daughter to be out of contact.

Fighting back tears, he told a press conference: "Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun-loving, family-orientated daughter.

"She's usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers or members of the family on social media."

He added: "She... has been bombarding us with numerous photographs and messages of her adventures.

"We are all extremely upset and it's very difficult at this time to fully describe the range of emotions we are going through."

Ms Millane, reported to be from Essex, arrived in New Zealand as part of her year-long travels on November 20, having previously visited Peru.

Police said more than 25 staff were working on the case and were trawling through hours of CCTV footage to trace her movements.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are providing consular support to the family in the UK, and working with the New Zealand Police in relation to reports of a missing British national in New Zealand."