The family of a woman who has been missing since Boxing Day have appealed to the public for help in finding her. Mother-of-three, Sally Allan, 59, was last seen at her home in Ponteland, Newcastle, at 3am on Boxing Day morning.

Her husband Gordon, 60, said he saw Sally leave their house in the early hours of Boxing Day. She has now been missing for five days. At a press conference, he described how she had celebrated a normal Christmas day watching TV with the family before disappearing.

Mam, you are an amazing mam, wife, sister, grandma. Everyone wants you to come home.
- Claire Allan

He said: "This is totally out of character for Sally to do something like this and we have never been apart from each other for long at all. The family were all together over Christmas and had a lovely time and for this to happen is just devastating. We all sat around on Christmas Day and watched the TV and had a laugh, it was like any other Christmas," he added.

More than 100 volunteers have joined the search for the 59-year-old in and around Ponteland while pages dedicated to finding her have also been set up on social media.

Mr Allan said: "The support we have been getting on social media and from people in the community has been overwhelming. The people of the North East have always been known as friendly compassionate people and this just goes to prove it. Sally is a selfless woman who would go out of her way to help others around her, she was a great wife and a wonderful mother."

The Allan family made a direct heartfelt plea to Sally Allan to return home. Daughter Claire Allan said: "Mam, you are an amazing mam, wife, sister, grandma. Everyone wants you to come home."

Urging members of the public to help in the search, Chief Inspector Stephen Readdie of Northern Area Command said: "We continue to appeal to anyone who may have seen Sally to contact police. We have a dedicated incident room set up with a team of officers reviewing CCTV and following up on possible sightings

"I have extra officers in the quayside area checking CCTV to try and trace Sally's movements and would ask that any businesses located on Newcastle Quayside with CCTV capability review their footage from Saturday, December 26 from 6am and contact police if there is any sightings of Mrs Allan. This is an incredibly distressing time for Sally's family who are desperate for her to come home. If anyone has information to help we would urge them to contact police straight away."

Mrs Allan is 5ft 7ins tall with a slim build, and short grey hair. At the time of her disappearance she is believed to have been wearing pink pyjamas, a cream fleece and a cream coloured Regatta waterproof jacket. She may be wearing gold rimmed glasses.

Northumbria Police are searching Newcastle Quayside after a possible reported sighting of Sally in the area at around 6.10am on December 26.

Anyone with information about where Sally may be should contact Northumbria Police on 101 quoting reference 0258 26/12/15.

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