VIDEO: Missing Joshua Oxley (12) last sighted in Chapeltown

The last confirmed sighting of Joshua was at Chapeltown Railway Station between 6.45pm and 7pm last night.

This follows an earlier sighting of Joshua at the roundabout over junction 35 of the M1 motorway around 4.30pm.

Extensive searches of the surrounding areas have been carried out overnight by specialist search officers and supported by a National Police Air Service helicopter. These will continue throughout today.

Supt Paul McCurry, from Rotherham District Police, said: “What we do know is that Joshua left Winterhill School, which is based on High Street in the Kimberworth area of Rotherham, around 3.50pm.

"He was then seen by a member of school staff around 40 minutes later at the roundabout over the M1 at junction 35 and we now know he was at Chapeltown Railway Station shortly before 7pm."

He added: “Joshua’s disappearance for this length of time is out of character and we believe this may be as a result of an incident at school yesterday.

"I would like to say to Joshua that he is not in any trouble and his mum and the rest of his family just want him to get in touch and let them know where he is."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police by dialling 101, quoting incident number 720 of September 22.