EMERGENCY services are to decide this morning on their next stage of their search for a missing woman following the discovery of a wheelchair by a Hampshire river.

Solent coast guard, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and police spent Wednesday night and most of Thursday scoring the River Test in Romsey to help find what was believed to be a disabled person who had gone missing.

Police were informed that the woman, who is thought to be about 55 years old, was last seen at 8pm Tuesday and that at 4pm she had been seen by the river's edge by workmen leaving a nearby home.

A friend who visited the scene said that she was paralysed from the waist down as she suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS) and has had to use a wheelchair for more than 20 years.

Emergency services were called after the electric wheelchair was spotted hanging over the riverside at Mainstone near the Cromwell Arms pub at 9.23pm on Tuesday.

Police and coastguard helicopters both took to the air and circled the river from Romsey to Redbridge.

Solent Coastguard was also called out and they searched the River Test and Southampton Water in boats.

Ambulances, police cars and fire appliances filled the bridge over the river at Middlebridge Street, Romsey and the road was cordoned off as more than 50 people, including staff from the Broadlands Estate, helped with the search.

Daily Echo:

Staff at the Cromwell Arms offered hot drinks to the rescue teams.

Details of whether the search will continue are set to be released later this morning.

The search has involved officers from Hampshire's marine unit, based at Netley's Force Support and Training HQ, who were wading through the water as part of the high profile search.

They used specialist search equipment to scour under the water and on the river bed.