A MASSIVE search operation for two children, involving the police helicopter and every available police officer at the time, was launched in St Neots after a brother and sister disappeared. The youngsters, aged four and six, enjoying their day out, rushed

A MASSIVE search operation for two children, involving the police helicopter and every available police officer at the time, was launched in St Neots after a brother and sister disappeared.

The youngsters, aged four and six, enjoying their day out, rushed off and became separated from their mother as they walked along Hardwick Road in Eynesbury on Sunday.

Adam Brahimi and his older sister Miram, of Hammersmith, West London, were visiting friends in the town when they went missing.

Distraught mum, Jean, called the police at 4pm, who immediately sent every available officer to help look for the children.

Mrs Brahimi said: "I was really scared. You just panic when you realise your children are missing. You don't want to but it kicks in.

"Within 10 minutes of calling the police, I could hear the helicopter overhead and there were police cars coming in from every direction."

The Brahimi family were visiting friends in The Broad Walk, in Eynesbury. Adam and Miram vanished after a visit to a nearby play area with their mum and older brother Farouq, 10.

Mrs Brahimi explained: "They aren't used to the wide pavements and open spaces. We were walking back from the park and they just zoomed off too quickly on their scooters. They got so far ahead they couldn't hear me calling for them to wait. I hurried back to my friend's house, hoping they had found their way back - but they weren't there."

Mrs Brahimi immediately started looking for the youngsters in the streets surrounding her friend's home. However, after 20 minutes of frantic searching revealed no trace of her children, she called the police.

She said: "I was trying to stay calm. I went back to the park but they weren't there either so I thought 'I'm ringing the police'."

A PCSO met Mrs Brahimi at her friend's house and stayed with her while officers scoured the neighbourhood.

Adam and Miram were eventually found just after 5pm - more than an hour-and-a-half after they first disappeared. A neighbour spotted Miram crying close to the Tesco store - a 15-minute walk away and across the busy Barford Road - just as officers in the helicopter called in that they had located the children. Police on the ground quickly picked up the pair, who were safe and well, and brought them back to their mum.

"They looked a bit sheepish," said Mrs Brahimi, "and Miram told me she was scared. She said a man came up to them and put a hand on her shoulder. She remembered that I always tell her not to talk to strangers so she told her little brother to run away. You never know people's intentions, perhaps they could have been found sooner."

She added: "I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped look for my children. I really appreciate the amount of local people who were offering help. I'd like to say a special thank you to the lady who actually spotted my children and came with her family to tell me.

"There were tears of relief all round and, thankfully, it was a very happy ending.