Twitter plea teenager found by police

A missing teenager whose plight was highlighted by a clutch of celebrities on Twitter was found by police today.

Serena Beakhurst, 14, was located in the Wandsworth area of south London in the early hours, the Metropolitan Police said. She was said to be well.

The girl vanished three weeks ago, and the likes of Stephen Fry, footballer Rio Ferdinand and Sarah Brown - wife of ex-prime minister Gordon Brown - all posted links to appeals for information about her.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: "Serena was found in the early hours of Wednesday in Wandsworth.

"Officers will be speaking to her in due course."

Serena, who also goes by the surname Dennis, disappeared on December 15 after catching a bus from Herne Hill station to attend her beauty therapy college course in south London.

She had never been reported missing previously.

On Monday, the Met Police said it had "exhausted normal lines of inquiry" and urged anyone with information to get in touch.

Yesterday officers revealed they were about to re-interview the teenager's friends and had received reported sightings of her over Christmas.

As well as the famous trio backing the appeal to find Serena, who lives in Tulse Hill, other celebrity Twitter users to re-tweet messages included actor and writer Simon Pegg and Little Britain's Matt Lucas.

Friends of the teenager reportedly accused police of a lack of care and attention in their hunt.

A Facebook group - Help Find Serena Beakhurst - was also set up to publicise her disappearance.

Serena's family thanked supporters of the campaign to find the teenager and described celebrity involvement as "invaluable".

Her cousin James Andrew told The Voice: "The family wishes to thank everyone who supported our campaign to find Serena.

"We are so grateful to all who took the time to post information about her on their Facebook and Twitter profiles.

"This campaign has highlighted the strength of the community and how powerful we can be when we unite our efforts.

"Without the dedicated members of the Facebook group, Please help us find Serena Beakhurst, this would have just been another unreported case of a missing child.

"We also wish to thank the celebrities who publicised our efforts. Their involvement was invaluable. And to the media who picked up on the story, your coverage was instrumental in finding Serena."