A list of volunteers who can be called on to search for missing people has been set up in the wake of the death of Sarah Payne.

The database has been organised following the efforts of the voluntary team which helped search for Sarah after she went missing in July last year.

Retired police officer Ivor Webb, who is Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator for Worthing, has received a cheque for £200 from Sussex Police to establish the Highdown Neighbourhood Watch Search Team.

Mr Webb said: "When Sarah Payne first went missing, more than 100 members of the public volunteered to help the police search for her.

"However there were problems. Volunteers were turning up and leaving at different times of the day and it was a complete headache for officers to try to organise.

"A lot of the time people were just hanging around while the police tried to organise them into groups. It occurred to me there must be a better way to do it through Neighbourhood Watch."

Mr Webb decided to set up a permanent database of volunteers who would be available to search the area in the event of someone going missing.

More than 80 people from 60,000 Neighbourhood Watch members in the Worthing and Littlehampton area signed up.

Mr Webb said: "What I was looking for were people who were able to drop everything at a moment's notice to go on a search and who were fit enough to do it. There was no point signing up people who had full-time jobs because we just did not know when they would be needed.

"As a result we have a lot of recently retired people involved as well as some young mums who do not work and have relatives they can leave their children with if necessary. There is quite a broad range."

The volunteers, who have received basic training, have been divided into four teams to cover different areas of the police division.

There are also plans to give them training in search techniques, first aid and handling evidence.

The database has only been running for a few months and already some of the volunteers have been called out to help search for an 11-year-old boy from Hove.

Mr Webb said: "The Hove Division put out a call for assistance from officers from other divisions to help find a missing boy.

"Highdown was able to send its volunteer search team instead. Within an hour we had 13 volunteers there. This meant Highdown did not have to spare any of its officers and saved money. In the end it turned out the boy had taken a train to London and was found safe and well."

Sussex Police rewards officers and civilians who have ideas which either save the force money or help it run more efficiently.