THE family of a missing woman have launched their own search party after enduring 12 months without any news of her whereabouts.

Georgina Gharsallah, 31, was last seen in her home town of Worthing on the morning of March 7 last year.

She was reported missing by her family ten days later. On April 20, a witness reported seeing two men who were allegedly spotted speaking to Georgina in Tarring Road, at the junction with Clifton Road, between 7pm and 8pm.

Despite the family’s repeated media appeals, there are still no clues to explain Georgina’s sudden disappearance.

Her mother, Andrea, has recently started a petition calling for building work at Teville Gate in the town to be halted as they believe her remains could be buried at the site.

She said: “I submitted the petition, which has more than 6,000 signatures, to Adur and Worthing councils and Sussex Police but they have not responded to me yet.

“I spoke to my local MP, Tim Loughton, who said he will support our search for Georgina. He said he is happy to speak to the owner of the company to retrieve any CCTV footage while the site was being demolished.

“I was approached by an emergency search expert, Chris Puller, and we set up a new Facebook page, ERVS Search for Georgina.

“I’ve decided to form my own search team and we have more than 300 people volunteering, some of them being experienced emergency response staff.

“I am extremely grateful for the help and support shown by the community.

“Georgina disappeared near Teville Gate and I believe there must be some evidence to suggest she was near there.”

Plans were approved on March 8 last year to knock down Teville Gate car park. The demolition was completed 20 weeks later. Worthing Borough Council plans to turn the land into a temporary car park while the private owner, Mosaic, has proposed to build flats, a gym and restaurants on a plot it calls Station Square.

Mrs Gharsallah said: “I am her mother and I must do and try everything I can to find Georgina.

“Sussex Police have had no leads in this case and my daughter appears to have vanished completely without trace.

“Many members of the public and my family feel a thorough specialist search for any human remains at the entire Teville Gate site is undoubtedly necessary in order to establish whether my daughter’s remains are situated there.”

An Adur and Worthing councils spokesman said: “We don’t own the land and, while we are hugely sympathetic to the family and praying for good news, the issue of investigating the disappearance is purely a matter for the police.”

Sussex Police investigating officer Simon Dunn said: “Over the last 12 months, a vast number of premises have been searched in accordance with information known about Georgina, her disappearance and places that she frequented within the Worthing area.

“The search strategy has always focused on information that can be linked to Georgina and her lifestyle at the time of her disappearance.

“The senior investigating officer has always kept the search strategy under constant review and will assess any new information that comes to light.

“Any new search locations are carefully and methodically assessed and all search-related equipment will be utilised to maximise the recovery of any information that will shed light on Georgina’s disappearance.

“Teville Gate was assessed in the early part of the investigation, however, there was no information linking Georgina to that premises.”