The desperate family of an 81-year-old woman who went missing on New Year’s day has appealed to the public for their help in finding her one month on from her disappearance.

Gloria Stringer was last seen on the evening of Monday, January 1, near her Hollingbourne home in Hospital Road but has not been seen since.

The pensioner, who is known as an avid walker, had previously been found in the garden of a home in Staplehurst.

Despite an exhaustive search of the surrounding areas, police were left with further clues and called off the search on January 24.

Mrs Stringer had been seen in the grounds of the Tudor Park Hotel before she vanished and is believed to have seen down a dirt track nearby.

A Facebook page has been set up by Mrs Stringer’s family in an attempt to find her and one post has urged members of the public to keep looking for her.

It read: “Thank you to all of you who have commented, liked and shared this page. Sadly we have no up to date information to pass on.

“There have been no new sightings and sadly we are no nearer to knowing where she is.

“She was last sighted going down a dirt track near the Tudor Park Hotel so there is every possibility she is in that vicinity but it's a vast area.

“Can we please ask that anyone walking in that area please take a minute to look for her and report anything you think may be significant in her recovery. Thank you for your continued support.”

One theory held by Kent’s Search and Rescue team is that Mrs Stringer was caught in the harsh conditions of storm Eleanor and sought shelter while out walking.

An earlier Facebook post read: “Please keep checking your sheds, gardens land etc, walkers and cyclists when you're out on your daily jaunts spare a minute to look around the areas you're in, please report anything that looks out of place, it might just be the breakthrough we need.

“Sadly the police have now stopped their search and we thank them and Kent Search and Rescue for all their efforts, we are truly grateful.

“So Gloria we continue to look for you and need to know what has happened to you.”