An urgent appeal has been launched in the search for a teenage girl missing from Sunbury.

Mary Shell, 14, was last seen around 10pm and is believed to have left her home in Sunbury sometime before 2am on Monday (December 15).

Police said they believe she many be in central London at present and are eager to trace her whereabouts.

To that end they launched a public appeal and offered a description of Mary in the hopes of finding her and ensuring her safety.

"We are appealing for the public’s help in finding missing 14-year-old girl Mary Shell from Sunbury-on-Thames.

"Mary was last seen yesterday evening (13 December) at around 10pm and is believed to have left her home sometime before 2am today (14 December).

"Officers believe Mary may be in the central London area and we are appealing to anyone who may have seen her to get in touch," a spokesperson said in an appeal shared over 1,000 times on Twitter.

Mary is described as white with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

"We are growing increasingly concerned for her welfare so if you have any information which could help, please contact us quoting incident number P20287866 via webchat on our website surrey.police.uk or by calling 101," Surrey Police added.