Moved to help by Sarah's plight

The efforts of local people in the hunt for eight-year-old Sarah led to the UK's first permanent database of volunteers who can help police searches at a moment's notice.

Now the Neighbourhood Watch Search Team is carrying out an exercise to test procedures.

When Keith Richardson heard a little girl had gone missing near to his home two years ago, he felt compelled to help.

His daughter was a similar age to Sarah Payne and he knew it could just as easily have been her.

He decided to help comb the countryside for clues to the young girl's whereabouts.

Mr Richardson was one of more than a hundred local residents who gave up hours of their time to search for Sarah and her clothing in West Sussex as part of Operation Maple.

They were ordinary people from all walks of life but everyone was united by the need to help - still unaware little Sarah had already been murdered by Roy Whiting.

Mr Richardson, 45, a telephone engineer from Goring, said: "My daughter Emma was not much older than Sarah. So it was a bit close to home when Sarah went missing.

"Our family was glued to the news. I was desperate to help."

He and many others turned up to search for Sarah but the operation frustrated him. Time spent organising volunteers was time which could have been spent looking.

Mr Richardson, who is married to Gaye, 43, and has a son, Steven, 16, said: "Everyone wanted to help. There weren't just people with young children but also grandparents and lots of retired people.

"But I was struck by the amount of police it took to organise people."

A defining moment came when Mr Richardson approached Ivor Webb, Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator for Worthing.

Mr Webb, a retired police officer, said: "Keith came to me the day after and said he had spent more time being organised into a group than actually looking for Sarah.

"He asked me, 'Can't Neighbourhood Watch do something about it?'

"Volunteers were turning up and leaving at different times and it was a headache for officers to try to organise."

The Neighbourhood Watch Search Team was formed from that conversation, although Sarah's body was discovered soon afterwards. Her killer was later jailed for life.

The search team, which is nearing its 100th member, is determined to keep improving its search procedures.

All the members have been logged on a database and trained in search techniques, first aid and handling evidence. They are equipped with yellow reflective jackets with the Neighbourhood Watch logo on.

Today the team will hone their skills by taking part in a live missing person scenario at the Arundel Farm Estate in Wepham.

They will put into practice their theoretical training with instruction from the police underwater and search unit.

Mr Webb said: "Taking part in a search is not just a matter of walking through a field. Spaces have to be divided up into specific areas so you don't miss a thing. Sometimes, you may not be looking for a body but for an object or piece of clothing.

"Then there is the question of preserving the evidence. Our volunteers have had the same training as a police officer would.

"I have been overwhelmed by the eagerness to learn of all the team. They are just ordinary people who want to assist the police and do it properly."

The volunteers must meet strict criteria and be physically fit. Yet many of the team are retired and able to drop everything at a moment's notice to go on a search.

Soon after the database was set up, volunteers were called out to search for an 11-year-old boy from Hove. It was a wet, miserable winter's evening and the boy had failed to return home.

Hove police put out a call for assistance from officers from other divisions but there was a lack of manpower that night.

Twenty volunteers from the database, which is divided into four teams to cover different areas of the Highdown division, were called. Within an hour, 13 were assembled and ready to start searching for the boy.

Mr Webb said: "Volunteers were ready to help at the drop of a hat. That meant Highdown saved money. The boy was found the next day in London safe and well."

Other searches have not had such a positive outcome. Their first was the disappearance of an elderly lady from Rustington during the night.

Volunteers braved bad weather to scour gardens and out buildings. They hoped the pensioner had taken shelter somewhere. But she was never found.

Yet every search is a positive step, according to Mr Webb. He said: "It can only be a good thing if people get involved in their local communities. I would like to think other Neighbourhood Watches around the country could set up similar schemes."

Ben Copsey, chairman of the search team's executive committee, said: "Being the only such group in the country we have had to develop every aspect from scratch."

As an offshoot, a team of 50 volunteers has also been formed, which helps the police in providing public reassurance and delivering crime prevention advice.

Chief Superintendent Graham Walter said: "This is an excellent project which involves the community in crime prevention, reducing the fear of crime and assisting the police in a hands-on manner.

"People often feel helpless when a serious incident occurs within their own community and are desperate to help where they can."

Sarah's smiling face was a moving image for Mr Richardson and inspired him to make a change.

He said: "Many volunteers have never done anything like this. But Sarah touched them. Now they can be called up at any time to help. Poor Sarah should not have died in vain."