Police launched a search after a man walked out of a hospital with part of an intravenous drip trailing from his arm.

Dressed in a hospital gown and slippers, the man vanished for several hours before walking back into the hospital, apparently none the worse for his wandering.

The alarm was raised by staff at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, yesterday afternoon.

A Brighton and Hove police spokeswoman said today: "The man was on medication and it appears he was very confused.

"When he returned he had on a sweatshirt and trainers but how he came by these, we don't know."