MORE than 100 family and friends of a missing Newport man joined in the search today.

Dr Dave Hampton, 64, of Pill, was last seen by his partner of 15 years Sara Webb, 40, at about 11pm on Thursday after telling her he needed some "fresh air."

His family and friends have since launched an appeal across social media sites Twitter and Facebook to try to find him.

Volunteers congregated at Longditch Road, at Newport Retail Park - within a mile of the last place his mobile phone signal was detected - at 10am where police briefed them on their route. The group then split in two, with one party starting out from Pye Corner and the other from Goldcliff, with the aim of meeting in the middle in the later afternoon.

Volunteers from across Newport searched the long grasses, reens and marshland in the flatlands near to the industrial park where he was last seen.

His partner, Ms Webb, speaking before the group set off, said: "It’s really overwhelming how many people have turned out to help. I don’t know a lot of them, but he is a very popular man, and much loved.

"He’s not well at all. He was very confused, which is why we need him home. We just need him home.

"We’ve got to find him. We’ve got to."

"No one has a bad word to say about him, he’s a lovely man."

His daughter Lucy Hampton, 26, said: "We’ve had a massive reaction on Facebook and Twitter.

"People sharing his picture on social networks actually led to people reporting hat they had spotted him in this area. We're not going to leave a stone unturned. "

Police are appealing for information. Dr Hampton is described as being white, approximately 5ft 8ins tall and of stocky build. He has grey short, shaved hair, and sometimes wears glasses. He was last seen wearing a navy jumper, light blue shirt, grey jeans and black shoes.

Anyone with any information should call police on 101.