Runaway girl Stacey had left home without her passport

POLICE hunting Stacey Champ always believed she would be found in the UK.

Although they issued an allports warning, they knew that Stacey did not have a passport.

She and David Milner, the 46-year-old family friend who had taken her, also had a diminishing pot of money and police did not think that they had either the initiative or resources to manage to get abroad.

The search for Stacey led police all over the country as they followed every available lead and sighting.

Stacey, 14, had been missing since Thursday morning after running away with family friend Milner.

Their trail led from Stacey's home in Gillingham via Newbury to Bristol and Blackpool before officers found her safe and well in Scotland this morning.

It emerged that divorced loner Milner called his teenage companion his "toygirl" in front of guests at a Blackpool hotel where they posed as man and wife for a two-night stay.

The couple were seen at the Central Hotel in Blackpool on Saturday posing as Mr and Mrs Thomas.

Fellow guest Julie Barton, 32, said: "They introduced themselves as Stacey and Dave. They said they had been married for two years.

"She struck me as being quite immature for 22. She was holding his hand, giggling and seemed quite love-struck. But alarm bells did not ring. She said she was 22 and he was 37.

He called her his toygirl."

A hotel cleaner said Stacey looked older than 14. "They seemed an ordinary couple and I didn't notice any great age difference. She did not look as if she was being held against her will or anything like that."

Friends of the schoolgirl, a pupil at Upbury Manor School in Gillingham, have suggested they might try to leave the UK.

However, the teenager, who is reported to be a talented musician and animal-lover, does not hold her own passport.

Inspector Richard Watson of Kent Police revealed that Milner, a friend and former colleague of Stacey's mother, bought a car on the outskirts of Blackpool on Friday afternoon.

Mr Watson said officers were desperate to trace the red VW Golf - registration J804 LLD - purchased from a private dealer for 300.

Mr Watson added: "The net is closing. Each time we get a piece of information, it is closer to them. Where are David and Stacey going to spend this evening?

"Where is this vehicle? We are very keen to trace them before Stacey spends another night away from home."

Police have also established that Stacey was in Newbury on Thursday, and it is believed that the couple went to Bristol before making their way to Blackpool.

Police recovered a white Escort van thought to belong to Milner at Temple Meads railway station in Bristol.

British Transport Police carried out forensic analysis of the van, discovered by attendants in the long-stay car park.

Yesterday, Stacey's mother Angela broke down in tears as she appealed for her daughter to return home. Mrs Champ, 33, said: "Stacey, please come home.

You are not in any trouble. I love and I miss you. Max (the family cat) is missing you like hell. Just let me know that you are OK."

Stacey's father, who does not live with her mother but also comes from the Gillingham area, was kept informed of the search for his daughter.

Mr Watson said there had been a "phenomenal" response from the public to the police appeal for information, which has led to Stacey being found safe and well.

He said: "We just wanted her to be reunited with her mother."

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