A nine-year-old boy who sparked a police search when his parents awoke to find him missing was discovered hiding under his bed.

Officers mounted river searches and scrambled a helicopter in a bid to find the schoolboy, who was last seen on Monday evening.

Police were called at 9:15 BST on Tuesday, but an initial search of his home in Gateshead, found nothing.

He was found three hours later in a “hidden compartment” under the bed.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said the force was reviewing the search to find out why the compartment was not checked.

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The youngster was found at about 12:40 by an officers who had been searching the address in the Dunston area.

“An initial search of the house had been conducted throughout the morning but the compartment had not been checked by either police or the family – we will be reviewing why he was missed in our initial searches,” police said.

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