A 10-year-old schoolboy who vanished on his way home from a friend’s house in Birmingham has been found.

Ben Smythe went missing from Bromford in Birmingham at 7pm on Sunday night, sparking fears for his safety.

Officers scrambled the force helicopter to aid in the search and have been trawling CCTV footage and checking open spaces for any sign of the youngster.

But Ben turned up at an address in Kingstanding, Birmingham, at 2.35pm this afternoon.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: “It is not clear where Ben has been since he went missing yesterday evening, but he is safe and well and specially trained officers will be speaking to him in due course to discover his whereabouts.

“Ben will be reunited with his parents.”

Earlier today detectives said they were “extremely concerned” for Ben’s safety.

He had been out playing football with his 12-year-old pal Simon Kesterton shortly before going missing.

They had then gone to a chip shop before Ben decided to walk the short distance to his home in Bromford Drive.