Councillor doing 15-hour days spent so much time at work his family reported him missing

Denis Crawford was unaware the alarm had been raised until two police officers interrupted a Thetford Town Council meeting

Denis Crawford was reported as missing on Tuesday morning after working a 15 hour day on Monday (Thetford Town Council)

A councillor was working such long hours that his family reported him missing.

Denis Crawford was unaware his family had raised the alarm until two police officers interrupted a Thetford Town Council meeting he was in on Tuesday evening, in an effort to locate him.

The Ukip councillor's family reported he had been missing since 7am on Monday.

Cllr Crawford, who also serves on Norfolk County and Breckland District Council, arrived home at 10pm Monday evening, and left again 7am the following morning.

The councillor's daughter had been trying to contact him and after failing, contacted the police.

He said: “It was a huge surprise. The first thing I knew about any concerns was when two officers poke their heads around the door and asked for me.

“I was thinking ‘what’s wrong?’, but the officers explained they were looking for me because I hadn’t been seen at home for such a long time."

He said he spent almost five hours in an adult social services meeting, followed by a Brekcland planning consultation and an action group meeting on Monday.

The councillor attended a children’s services committee meeting, followed by a Ukip group meeting and a full town council meeting.

Thetford Council has since been using the hashtag "Where's Dennis" on Twitter after the story became viral.

He said: “It's not an unusual schedule - I guess it just highlights how hard people in local government work.

“I went back into the meeting and asked the mayor if I could interrupt proceedings to explain what happened.

“Everybody took it in good humour but I'm sure I'll get a bit of stick from my fellow councillors.”