And the man who found her said he was amazed when he discovered how old she was.

He said:"She must be marvellously fit for her age."

Elsie Calnan was found last night in a field two miles from the Sussex Grange rest home in Vincent Road, Selsey, where she lives.

She disappeared on Tuesday afternoon after going out for a walk and was missing for more than 24 hours.

Ahuge search was launched on Tuesday night with help from volunteers and soldiers from the Chichester barracks of the Royal Military Police.

More then 20 police officers were still searching yesterday afternoonwhen Colin Everett and his wife, Rozalie, found Mrs Calnan.

They had gone to check a field they own in the Park Lane area of Selsey.

Mr Everett said: "I looked over the gate and saw a woman trapped by a leg which was round a post that had barbed wire on it.

"The lady was conscious but could not remember her name or where she came from."

An ambulance took Mrs Calnan to St Richard's Hospital at Chichester where her condition was said to be stable.

Mr Everett, who lives in the East Beach area of Selsey, said he was not aware that an elderly woman had gone missing in the town.

He said: "We saw a lot of police activity, but we had been over to Worthing for the day and did not know what was going on."

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