A Sussex soldier has gone missing while on holiday in Tenerife.

Matthew Jackson, 18, was on the island with his girlfriend Amy when he disappeared during the early hours of Friday morning.

Worried Amy informed staff at the Pearly Grey Ocean Club Hotel, in Callao Salvaje, near the popular resort of Playa de las Americas, when her boyfriend failed to return to the hotel after a night out.

Mr Jackson, who serves with 16 Signal Regiment, is on Christmas leave and due to return to barracks in Elmpt, Germany, on January 4.

He and Amy flew to Tenerife on December 14 and were due to return on Sunday. Mr Jackson’s mother, Lyn, has flown to Tenerife to help with the search for him.

The 49-year-old said the family, from Bewbush, Crawley, were devastated by his disappearance and desperate for him to be home for Christmas.

She said: “He and Amy had had a slight argument, nothing major, and he jumped down behind a small wall.

Amy walked back to the hotel and assumed he would be behind her.

“When he didn’t come back she retraced their steps but couldn’t find him so she told the hotel and they called the police.”

Mrs Jackson said the Foreign Office was helping and she had informed the Ministry of Defence and her son’s barracks that he was missing.

She said: “It’s very difficult and I am sick with worry.

He is not the type of lad to go out, get drunk and go missing.”

Matthew’s sister Claire has set up a group on the social networking site Facebook, Bring Matt Home For Xmas, which has attracted hundreds of members.

Matthew was wearing a red and white Lacoste T-shirt, beige three-quarter trousers and yellow flip-flops when he went missing at about 2am.

His bank cards have not been used since.

Claire, 21, said: “He is a funloving character with huge ambitions in the Army and he was really looking forward to going to Afghanistan in February. We really want him home for Christmas.”